Accepting nature on Labyrinth Gardens

Adelita Garcia

September 06, 2010 5:43 PM

Accepting nature by Adelita Garcia

Adelita was walking in the gardens for the first time in long time. In the years that she had come to Sonora, Lita could count how many times she had actually taken a walk through here on one hand. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the gardens or nature or anything like that. Whenever they were in Spain staying in the country house, Lita and her family would take walks through the hills. She loved doing things like that. She may never want to climb a rock wall, but she didn’t hate nature enough to never enjoy being within it. But, because her time at school was devoted to school and to rehearsing for her ballet recital or audition, Lita hadn’t had much time to spend outside appreciating the gardens that the school provided for them.

She knew that this year was going to be a crazy year with CATS happening. Because of that, she wanted to explore the gardens at least once this year before she had to buckle down and really stick her nose in a book. Although, to be honest, she wasn’t really worried about half the classes she was taking. If she did poorly in Potions, it wouldn’t kill her since she had no plans on continuing on with those classes. And the classes she did want to do well in, she was already doing well in them. Adelita wasn’t an Aladren, but when she liked something and did it well, she made the effort for it.

As it were, Lita knew that she would be inside most of the school year. Inside studying and inside dancing for the audition. So, before she got too boggled down and the seasons turned colder, Adelita decided to take a Saturday afternoon for just herself and take in the sun and fresh air. Slipping on some flip flops, jean shorts, and a t-shirt with her Ballet School logo on the pocket, Lita ran a brush through her layered brown hair, touched up the little makeup she was wearing and left the confines of the school and into the Labyrinth.

Adelita was aware that people had certain opinions of her. They probably thought she was stuck up, a perfectionist, stupid, and maybe even selfish. But, Lita was certain that she wasn’t any of those things. She was friends with all sorts of different people. The only thing she ever really needed to perfect was her dance routines, otherwise, she just went with whatever was going. She wasn’t a genius, but she did well with what she had. And, yes, she was used to getting what she wanted when she was at home, but thus far her experience at Sonora has taught her that here, she was the runner up. She would always be the runner up. She was learning to live with that. Lita was also aware that people knew little of her. They probably didn’t even know her family on the Santoro/Chavez side was old money, but was money made through hard labor. Chavez’s began their small restaurant in Spain centuries before which has grown into the most well-known Magical restaurant in Spain. The Elite ate there. The Santoros started off as Aurors before becoming councilmen in Mexico. From there, their own firm was born and now they had branches of that firm all over Central America, the United States, and Spain (due to the marriage of Lupe Chavez and Julio Santoro). The Garcia family had worked up the latter in the ministry. They didn’t have the funds that her mother’s side did, but they certainly weren’t hurting either.

It was the knowledge of the hard work that her family had provided for the lifestyle that they lived that had Lita working as hard as she did in her ballet. She was passionate about it, but more than that, she understood that she couldn’t get anywhere in life without the work. Other Pureblood (or Fullblood) families made their money through connections. Her family made the money through making their dreams come true. She was aware that they were an odd bunch, but no one could ever say they didn’t deserve everything that they had.

Adelita also appreciated the little things in life. Her grandparents taught her that. Everything had meaning. Everything.

Which was why Lita noticed the small rabbit that was lying half beneath one of the bushes. “Oh no, little rabbit, have you gotten stuck?” From her position, Lita could only see the tail of the rabbit, but as she grew closer, Lita realized that the rabbit wasn’t stuck. The rabbit wasn’t anything anymore. “Ooooh, poor bunny. Left this world so young. Were you scared in your last moments, Mr. Bunny? I would have been.” Lita crouched near the rabbit, moving brush away to have a better look. It must have died only a short time earlier.

Tears came to Lita’s eyes. She had no emotional attachment to the rabbit and she had never had a pet of her own to have any sort of understanding on that type of relationship, but she understood life and death enough to be affected by it. “All alone out here. Poor little bunny. Invisible to the world. Just like me. Don’t worry though, I’ll make sure your burial is proper and I’ll never forg-eek!” Lita squealed in surprise when she felt something touch her back. Leaping up, Lita spun around to face whatever had touched her.

Realizing what had touched her had been her friend, she sagged with relief. “Holy cow, you scared me!”

6 Adelita Garcia Accepting nature 136 Adelita Garcia 1 5

Juri Dahlgren

September 08, 2010 6:45 PM

Stumbling upon nature by Juri Dahlgren

Being in his dorm room wasn’t something that Juri normally minded. He was good at ignoring his roommates, each for their own reasons. He didn’t particularly like Daniel since the time of the dance even though it had been ages ago. He still thought that Daniel secretly harbored an interest in Adelita, which if he ever told anyone they would probably just tell him that it was all in his head. Then, there was James. He was a bit on the pompous side. Honestly, he thought the two would get along fabulously, but there seemed to be a bit of tension between the two. Though, maybe he was just reading more into it than there actually was.

But maybe not. He had been surprised when James had been announced prefect over Daniel. The latter always seemed like one of those people that got everything he wanted. He was some big shot tv star, which meant fame, fortune, and status. On top of it, he was Assistant Captain now meaning he would be Captain. He had expected Prefect would just be another thing Daniel was handed on a silver platter. So, truthfully, it had been a little satisfying to see someone else get it. Though, he was certainly glad it wasn’t him. He was no one’s role model. According to the Judge, he was becoming a juvenile delinquent, but whatever. He was his mother’s son and he was proud of it.

Of course, that meant getting away from his roommates sometimes. The only one he actually liked was Quentin and that was more because he found the guy amusing than anything else. But even he needed some breathing room on occasion, which is why he found himself walking in the gardens. It would have been nice to have his iPod, but that was the nice thing about having a passion for music. It was always there down to his very essence. As he walked, he tapped his hand along the side of his thigh. ’ A mask of deceit to veil the truth No the beat wasn’t quite right. He changed it just a little there. Yes, that was it. Much better. He started singing softly, as he walked through the peaceful paths.

Juri stopped short when he saw Lita up ahead. He tilted his head wondering what she was up to since she was crouched down on the ground. Not wanting to disturb whatever was going on, he walked softly up to her. Was that a rabbit? He leaned in closer to try and get a better look. Without thinking, he touched Lita’s back for support. He jumped back when she let out a curdling shriek. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I saw you…are you okay?” That was a stupid question. Of course, she wasn’t all right. There were tears in her eyes.

0 Juri Dahlgren Stumbling upon nature 127 Juri Dahlgren 0 5

Lita

September 08, 2010 9:28 PM

Stumbling upon a mess too by Lita

Lita’s heart was thumping in her chest after the scare she had just had that it took her a moment to realize who it was. It was Juri. Out of habit, a smile easily crossed her features at the sight of her friend. She hadn’t actually gotten a chance to talk to him since the school year had started. For whatever reason, Lita had attached herself to the friendship she had with Juri. Charlie wasn’t around much and hadn’t been for the last couple of years. In that time, Lita spent more time with everyone else and that usually meant Juri.

Her smile faltered by Juri’s question and the concern that his tone held. It took her that extra moment to realize that her eyes had watered because of the rabbit. “Oh!” Her cheeks heated up out of embarrassment from having been caught over something that was probably very trivial for Juri. She quickly wiped away what tears she had with the palm of her hand before addressing his concern. “I’m fine, just being a girl.” Lita said with a small nonchalant of a giggle and a shrug of her slender shoulders. Being this close to Juri made her suddenly aware of how tall he was now. It wasn’t a surprise really, Lita would never be five feet tall, so naturally, everyone else would be taller than her. It was just that she had never really noticed the difference until now.

“I saw this bunny here and I thought it was stuck, but it’s not. Mr. Bunny is no more.” Lita’s attention returned to the rabbit and with it, the look of sadness. “I guess I got emotional because it made me realize how lonely he must have been. Here in this big crazy maze, sick and probably scared and no one here to notice or care.” Lita’s voice was soft and low as she spoke. As though, if she spoke any louder, something terrible would happen. “I’ve never known death before. I mean, personally. But seeing Mr. Bunny…” She paused, trying to figure out the best way to describe what she was feeling. When she couldn’t get her thoughts organized enough for an explanation, she decided to just continue on.

“Anyway, I was thinking about giving him a proper burial, you know? Do the right thing.” Her slender shoulders curved upward again for another shrug. “I wanted him to know that someone cared, even if it was only through his death.” Maybe it was a bit stupid of her to do, but it was the only thing she could think of when it came to this situation. She loved animals, but would never have one of her own because she didn’t have the time for them. She had never lost someone with whom she loved dearly, but that day was bound to come sooner or later. For now, she would do what she felt was the right thing. Even if only for a rabbit.

“Would you like to help me?” Lita asked, her dark brown eyes looking up at Juri. His eyes were green? She wasn’t sure why her thoughts went to the color of his eyes, but they had and she couldn’t quite look away even though she felt that she ought to before it became weird. “You don’t have to, of course. I know this is probably just really lame to you.”

0 Lita Stumbling upon a mess too 0 Lita 0 5

Juri

October 07, 2010 6:33 PM

Attempting to clean up a mess. by Juri

“Yeah, it is pretty lame,” Juri said with almost a sigh. Girls were such funny creatures sometimes. Sure, they were nice to look at and they were always so soft and smelled so sweet, but then there was this part. The emotional part where you could never do anything right or said the wrong thing and sometimes they cried over the littlest things. It was just a rabbit. He couldn’t be cruel to Lita though and in an effort to make her feel better, he added, “But I guess if I were a rabbit I would want someone to give me a proper burial.”

He pulled his wand out of his pocket. “Locomoter rabbit.” Slowly, the rabbit lifted up off the ground, almost like the bunny was being descended into Heaven. It would have been moving if it hadn’t been purely practical. He was worried that if Lita touched the dead animal, she would catch some disease. It wasn’t like they knew what the rabbit had actually died from. Maybe it had died from old age, but they didn’t know that. “How about over there?” He nodded over to where there was a rather large rose bush, which would be a nice memorial place. Right?

Once Juri was close enough, he allowed the rabbit to gently settled next to the spot where he assumed they would need to dig. Pulling off his flannel, he carefully wrapped the bunny in it. He had a shirt underneath, but still he hated to say goodbye to his favorite flannel. “All right, so we need to make a hole far enough down that other animals won’t smell the rabbit.” He didn’t get into the details of what would happen if that happened. Being a girl, it probably would have upset her. Plus, to be honest, it wasn’t really appealing to his stomach to think about even if he knew it was the cycle of life.

After the burial was taken care of, he gave a little speech, “Dear God, please give peace of mind to all this bunny’s relatives by accepting him into your gates and to the family that awaits him there.” He knew that Lita was worried that the rabbit had died all alone, but it wasn’t like they knew that the rabbit hadn’t had anyone. The rabbit might have had a wonderful life filled with tons upon tons of siblings, nephews, nieces, and even little bunnies of his own. It was just a shame that he had died alone, but he figured that’s how most animals tried to go instead of being a burden upon their critter families. “Did you want to say a few words?”

0 Juri Attempting to clean up a mess. 0 Juri 0 5

Lita

October 08, 2010 11:40 PM

And you did a fine job of it. by Lita

Lita’s brows furrowed into a knot when Juri completely admitted that her notion for a burial of the poor sad little bunny was indeed lame. She expected him to agree, sure, but she didn’t expect him to agree out loud or so bluntly to her. She wasn’t sure if she should feel insulted and stupid for even having the idea at all. She didn’t think it was so terrible. She just didn’t think it was right to leave the poor thing lying under the bushes without even so much as a second glance. She perked up though when she agreed to help her with it.

She took a step back while Juri took the rabbit over towards the rose bush. Lita liked the place Juri had decided on. To be honest, she was just going to bury it right in the spot it had died, but this was much much nicer. “I like it.” She said somewhat quietly as they made their way to it.

At some point, Juri had decided to take the lead and that was fine with Lita. Maybe he had pets of his own and had to bury them before. She didn’t know, but she was a little grateful for it. As much as she had wanted to give the rabbit something , she really didn’t have any idea of what she would have done other than dig a small hole and say farewell. “Okay.” Lita agreed when Juri suggested a deep hole. As soon as it was allowed, Lita put her hands directly to the dirt and began to help make a hole. She didn’t mind getting dirty. Her wand was probably more useful than her hands, but she felt it was more effective to use her own hands for something ‘sacred’ rather than just a simple spell.

Once the hole was dug, Lita sat back on her knees while Juri used his own shirt to wrap the little guy or girl in his shirt. That surprised Lita more than anything. She hadn’t expected him to sacrifice an article of clothing for her moment of emotional girly-ness. It was awfully generous and nice of him. She wasn’t sure anyone else would have. Heck, she wasn’t sure if she would have. Not that she could have. She wasn’t wearing anything under her shirt other than undergarments and she certainly wasn’t about to let Juri see anything like that.

Once Mr. Bunny was forever gone from this world beneath layers of dirt, Lita closed her eyes and clasped her hands together for a prayer and a moment of silence. Only, it wasn’t silent because Juri was speaking. Lita opened her eyes and stared at him. She was torn between being completely taken by him in a moment of awe and laughing. The corners of her mouth twitched dangerously as she fought to control herself. When he was done, it seemed like it was supposed to be her turn. “Uh…” And then the giggle escaped. It was soft and quick but it happened just the same. “Sorry, no. Yours was lovely enough though. Thank you.”

She clapped her hands to try to rid herself of some of the dirt, but it looked like they would need a sink in order to get any cleaner. “Thank you for doing that with me.” Lita commented, standing up and stretching her legs. “And thank you for your shirt sacrifice. I’ll buy you a new one though to replace it. Do you, um, want to walk with me?” Lita asked, pointing towards the center of the maze.

0 Lita And you did a fine job of it. 0 Lita 0 5

Juri

October 15, 2010 4:57 PM

Good to know. by Juri

Juri raised an eyebrow at Lita’s giggle. Definitely weird. There was no doubt about it. As much as he tried, he was never ever going to understand girls. They might as well have been from another planet. Haha. The entire women are from venus, men are from mars thing. Of course, it was entirely true. Women were so deserving of venus, but he really never understood why mars was picked for men. Mars was ruled by Aries, the god of war. If he was right, this seemed to equate men to being aggressive and jealous. He didn’t think he was that way at all. And in his mind, his dislike of Daniel Nash II was completely justified.

“Sure,” he said, following her. “You don’t have to buy me a new shirt. It’s fine. Honest.” Silly girl. Asking her to buy him a new one would be the equivalent of throwing his coat over a puddle so that she didn’t step in it and then asking her to buy him a new one. If he would have asked such a thing, then he might as well have allowed her shoes to get dirty in the first place. On the note of dirt, he grabbed her hands, shaking his head slightly. “Here. Augmenti.” A bit of water came out of his wand onto her hands. His lips quirked into a smile. Silly pureblood girl that can’t even remember that a simple water spell works better than clapping her hands together.

He brushed his thumb against her skin to help get off the dirt. Too dangerous. If he held on any longer, Juri felt that he might not let go and that would have been bad. He wasn’t the type of guy to get involved. It was just too dangerous. The truth was he was afraid to admit how he felt. He was afraid that he would one day end up like his parents. They were divorced and though they were each happily remarried, his father and mother held bitterness towards each other. They fought over him all the time. Having grown up like that, he was afraid of ending up like that. No attachments. Not ever.

Abruptly, he let go and grasped onto something she had said earlier, “You’re not invisible to the world, you know. I have no idea why you would think such a thing.” If anything she was far too visible in the world. So much so that even as his brain was screaming that he should leave, leave now, he didn’t. It was like his feet had a mind of their own as they stayed firmly on their course. The more time he spent with her, and it had been a lot cause of Charlie, he noticed more and more things he liked about Lita like how deep and dark her eyes were. Sigh. Maybe he should have taken his chances with his roommates.

0 Juri Good to know. 0 Juri 0 5

Lita

October 15, 2010 6:41 PM

And now it's a Hot Mess by Lita

Adelita started walking beside Juri and deeper into the maze of bushes. She shrugged when he said she didn’t have to buy him a new shirt. She was going to buy him one whether he liked it or not. It was the right thing to do. He was a gentlemen, so she would reward him by somewhat replacing an article of clothing. “I don’t mind. I mean, you just lost your shirt. It was a nice shirt and it looked good on you. The least that I could do is get you another. I’ll even let you pick it out.” Adelita semi-joked, giving him a smile as they walked.

At the sudden physical touch drew a sharp intake of breath from Lita. She hadn’t been sure as to what to have expected when he grabbed her hand. At first, she thought he wanted to hold her hand and walk together. But then, if that had been the case, what exactly did that mean for the two of them? That he liked her? That he wanted to date her? And what of her? Did she like him? Yes, she did. He was Juri, how could she not? He was sincere with her and sweet, not to mention intelligent, but never snobby. Did she like like him? She wasn’t sure. There were moments that she questioned her feelings. Like now. Or when he looks at her and she could feel her heart race a little bit faster. But then, maybe she only felt those things because Juri was the only male who actually wanted to spend time with her.

Sigh

She needed her Mama’s opinion on all of this. She would know how to sort this whole mess out.

Of course, the minute Juri sprouted the water onto her dirty hands, Adelita felt very much like a fool for having thought anything romantic at all. “Oh.” She laughed, ignoring the hot feeling her ears and cheeks were feeling. “I sometimes forget.” Lita was great at Charms. It was, by far, her best class. But, that didn’t mean that she did them all the time. Maybe that was her dad in her. He didn’t really do much by magic and anything that Lita did was about dance, so she didn’t really need it. “Thanks!” She exclaimed as she let the water run over her hands. She dropped her head slightly to let her hair fall in front of her. She didn’t want him to see the smile she was wearing over the simple gesture. It was another ‘girl’ moment for her.

Lita dropped her hands when Juri let go and shook her hair out of her face. Her head tilted to the side when he made his comment. She smiled, but it was more wistful than anything. “I am. Maybe not with my family, but here I am.” Lita kept walking. “Charlie gets on the Quidditch team. She gets the Captain spot. She gets the Prefect spot. She still dancing. And, all the guys here look at her. They want to date her.” She was ranting a little bit. “I don’t want to do Quidditch or anything, but I would like something to be just for me. I mean, was I even considered for the Prefect spot at all? Or did she just automatically get it because she’s Charlie. And perfect. And everyone’s want to be girl.” Lita let out a grunt. She was being mean. She knew it. It wasn’t Charlie’s fault for anything. “I know I’m pulling out the jealous card. It’s not Charlie that I’m jealous about. I just… I just want to be first for something. Someone. I don’t want to be Prefect or play Quidditch or anything like that and I’m glad that she has both, but when it is my turn for something that I want, you know?”

Adelita turned to look at Juri, “Sorry, I’m ranting to you. I didn’t mean to. I just can’t really say this to Charlie and I already steal so much of Taylor’s free time because I don’t like to sit alone.” She shook herself out of her pity party. “Sorry that you didn’t get Prefect either. I’m actually really surprised James got it.”

0 Lita And now it's a Hot Mess 0 Lita 0 5

Juri

October 15, 2010 8:43 PM

A super hot mess by Juri

The story she wove was a familiar one. Jealousy was a terrible thing. How often did he feel that others got things before him? Daniel Nash II and James were recognized for being incredibly intelligent. He was just as intelligent as they were, but he was often overlooked since he didn’t fit the smart stereotype. Of course, then he could say he didn’t look quite so nerdy. He liked not having to look like some miniature businessman the way they did. Though, he was surprised that they had bothered to look at girls at all with how into academics and other activities they were. But he guessed Charlotte Abbott had that effect on most boys.

Though that seemed to be only a small part of Lita’s jealousy towards her friend. Juri was glad that his wasn’t directed towards any friends. It seemed a rather hard position to be in. She wanted to support Charlie, but it was difficult when Charlie always got what she wanted. She never needed Lita for a shoulder to cry on. And Lita wanted her moment to shine, but what she failed to realize was that she did shine. She shined every day. She was so much more than Charlie. He didn’t have anything against the other girl, but being so perfect had so little to offer. He loved the way Lita wrinkled her nose when she smiled or snorted when she laughed too hard. It was down to earth. Real.

He kicked the toe of his shoe against the dirt. “Yeah, it kind of sucks, but not because I wanted to be Prefect either. It’s their attitudes. Like only they matter and everyone else is beneath them. Well, Quentin isn’t like that. It’s actually kind of refreshing cause he looks at the world completely different. He’s not really competitive. Maybe that’s what bugs me so much about them. They’re competitive with each other like they have to have it all. And it’s like if you aren’t showing off your brains or how athletic you are on Quidditch, then you’re nothing.” Juri ranted slightly. He hadn’t meant to take away from Lita’s, but there were other things in life too that they seemed to fail to realize.

“Maybe that’s why it seems like Charlie gets all the attention. She’s the trophy for some, because she seems so perfect.” Juri started slowly. “Personally, I think someone that works for what she wants is better. It develops character. My mom has always worked hard, always took care of us, and she said that anything worth having is worth working for.” He was babbling. He knew it. She probably knew it, but it was hard to say what he really wanted to say, to be direct about it. He paused for a moment with a sigh before looking at her, really looking at her. “Lita, you do shine. Maybe you don’t see that. But you do. I see it every time I look at you.”

0 Juri A super hot mess 0 Juri 0 5

Lita

October 15, 2010 10:13 PM

Is it really super hot? by Lita

Adelita had no idea why she had just told Juri all of that. She felt horrible of talking poorly of Charlie. She knew that her resentment wasn’t really towards Charlie even though she made it out to be. Her resentment was towards everyone else who supplied the attention to her best friend. Maybe it was because when she was at home, Lita was in the light. Her parents, who doted upon all three of their children, but each child had a thing that only they did. Lita with her dance. Dulce with her music. Jorge with Quidditch. And their parents but time and effort into supporting each of their passions. So, Lita always had some light on her. But here at Sonora, there was no one to support her. No one to clap for her when she made an awesome leap or twist. She wasn’t the only dancer. She didn’t have any solos here. She was just Adelita. Charlie’s best friend. One would think that after all of this time, Lita would be used to such a thing.

It was Juri’s turn to rant. Lita sort of agreed with him when it came to the attitudes of his roommates. Daniel was a bit of a snob. He held that air of him, whether he meant to or not. Like him being on a muggle whatever automatically made him this amazing person who everyone adored. Lita still had yet to see what it was he did in the summer, though Charlie had commented on it a couple of times, but she didn’t understand why it mattered so much. Lita’s family in Spain owned a famous restaurant chain which was how, after centuries, their family had earned their status and money. Her family in Mexico and in America had a Law Firm that where anyone who was magical new the Santoro name because of their near perfect record of prosecuting Dark Wizards and Witches. They too, had earned their status and fortune. But none of them used their names to get them anywhere.

As for James, well, he sort of gave her the creeps. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was his anti-people attitude he had on top of his ‘I’m smarter than you’ attitude. Either way, Lita didn’t tend to stick around him if he happened to be around.

Lita didn’t, however, agree with Juri when it came to Quentin. He was definitely different, but he was annoying. Some of the questions he asked had absolutely no point to him. They were just common knowledge and yet, he asked a million questions about it. But, maybe since Juri’s other choices in roommates meant having to deal with their arrogance, Lita can understand him finding Quentin’s abnormal behaviors as a bit refreshing. She still wasn’t going to ask him to eat with her though.

“Your mom and my Mama would get along great.” Lita commented after a moment. “We are privileged, my family. I know this. I know that I have luxuries that many people will never have, but my family works hard for what they have. Hundreds of years of working to get where they are now. I don’t take any of it for granted and my parents make sure we know how hard it all was.” Lita’s eyes were focused on the path as they walked. “That’s why I work hard at dancing. I have to put in the effort to get to where my Mama was back when she was 18. Dancing for the ballet. When I learn something new or get the choreography down, it’s like a huge triumphant and all the pain is worth it.” Adelita grinned. She loved to dance, but it certainly wasn’t easy. “But, to be fair to Charlie, she works really hard. I see her everyday working. I don’t know, maybe she just has a better personality or something.” Lita shrugged.

His last commented threw her for a loop and she didn’t know how to take it. “Uh…” She gave a nervous giggle, “thank you.” It seemed like he just admitted something more than what was intended and it had forced her stomach up into her throat. “Really, thank you.” She added, looking up at him, her smile as genuine as it always was, albeit, a little on the shy side. “I don’t think you’re nothing.” Lita commented timidly. “I think you’re great. You’re smart, nice, helpful, a gentlemen, talented, and nice to look at.” She said the last comment with a joking smile, elbowing him playfully at the same time.

0 Lita Is it really super hot? 0 Lita 0 5