Here goes nothing [Sara] on Labyrinth Gardens

Preston Stratford

March 31, 2012 9:04 PM

Here goes nothing [Sara] by Preston Stratford

Summer had been spent between social events since he was now old enough attend them. Preston wasn’t very keen on playing the part of a social individual. Most of the parties were boring and full of condescending adults, which was the thing that bothered him the most. If one listened closely enough most of the conversations between adults were based on gossip and business. There was nothing of substance going around the room full of people. Why wouldn’t people talk about more interesting and important things like academia? At least sharing knowledge was a way of being cultured and more interesting. The conversations he had heard throughout the summer had been as interesting as talking about the weather.

Preston had nothing but contempt towards adults.

The only positive thing that saved his summer from totally awful was seeing Sara at some of the endless parties he had attended. The redhead honestly didn’t understand why Victor enjoyed them that much, though he was quite sure he liked showing off his bride-to-be. Not to mention that he had always been very social, but Pres was sure that Victor thrived in being the center of attention.

Anyways, spending time with Sara had been the highlight of his summer, since his father had deemed important to stay in the states. He didn’t know the reason behind the cancellation of their yearly vacations to interesting places, but he had begrudgingly agreed and didn’t say another word about the topic. Though on his free time he had read about the little community they were supposed to visit in South America.

Since he had spent some time with Sara over the course of last term, his parents had invited her family to some of their functions, and he had been grateful about it. He liked spending time with her, it was like talking to a friend that was girl and was more than a friend. Preston had come to the conclusion that despite every rationale he possessed about male-female relationships he had a crush on her. Basically, he thought about her a lot, and it confused him. Not to mention that it scared him that she didn’t felt the same way he did. This crush business was highly complicated.

After some serious consideration he decided to be a man and formally ask her out. The worst that could happen was that she rejected him, and he could go back to his normal self, or he hoped. Preston had sent Sara an owl asking her to meet him in the place he had deemed as theirs. It was the place that he always asked her to meet him when they chatted and spent time together in the Labyrinth Gardens.

The redhead was anxiously waiting for her to arrive, pacing and going through ever possible scenario. If he was rejected the other Aladren boys would mock him and the new one would probably take his place. Preston frowned. He was really annoyed at the fact that there was a transfer in his year and house.

But as soon as he saw Sara, Preston smiled, and the proverbial butterflies began flying in his stomach. He greeted her with a kiss on her hand. “I hope you are well,” he offered her his hand. “ And congratulations on being made Prefect.” He was sincere, but in the depths of his mind he could already savor his Prefectship next term.

0 Preston Stratford Here goes nothing [Sara] 0 Preston Stratford 1 5

Sara Raines

April 01, 2012 8:26 PM

Is it gone yet? by Sara Raines

Sara’s summer had, for the most part, been lovely. She had gone on her annual trip to Spain, spent a week in Germany, and returned to the summer party season of Illinois, which, at fifteen, she had finally been deemed old enough to join fully. She had struggled to stay awake the first few times she’d been permitted to stay late at a function, but she had enjoyed herself most of the time, and everything she had heard indicated that she had made a good impression on everyone, which was the one thing she had been nervous about.

Well, nearly, anyway, and the other thing had been in a slightly different way. She might not have noticed at first, but then Father had asked her if she was still friendly with Preston Stratford, and then she had noticed that they were going to Stratford parties and inviting the Stratfords to theirs. It hadn’t been a surprise, really, when her parents sat down with her near the end of the summer and said that though nothing had been brought up by either side yet, they were interested in what her thoughts would be if the Stratfords did express an interest in her as a future daughter-in-law. If it came up, they wanted to know what she thought before they said anything, and it was harder to ask her opinion, especially privately, while she was at school, so they had asked then just in case.

She had said she would think of it as a good suit, and she knew it would be. Preston was intelligent and handsome and from a good family and she liked him, and the match would help keep her closer to probably her best friend, too, since Fae’s sister was betrothed to Preston’s brother. If one of Preston’s roommates, as Sara very much suspected one of them would, married Fae, then, they would all be one happy family, practically. It would all be perfect, but the thought of it still made her feel a little nervous – not in a bad way, but nervous anyway. She thought every girl probably was, looking at the possibility of the rest of her life, but she was resolved not to get carried away. It was just a possibility, not anything she should let change her behavior just yet.

Because she knew that, she wrote back to Preston saying she would meet him in the usual place when he owled her, then went to that place in a pretty but not overly fancy deep rose dress she especially liked. She smiled, pleased, when he congratulated her on being made the Pecari prefect. She wasn’t wearing the badge right now, but she was very proud of it nevertheless. “Thank you,” she said. “And I’m quite well. I hope you are as well?” She supposed he probably was, to suggest meeting outside and think at once about her being a prefect now, but it was only polite to ask, and the last thing Sara ever wanted to be was rude. There was, her mother had always said, nothing worst at all than a rude young woman in all of society. Men could perhaps get away with such things every now and then, but a girl was supposed to be in better control of herself than that.

0 Sara Raines Is it gone yet? 179 Sara Raines 0 5

Preston

April 02, 2012 4:03 PM

What is gone?? by Preston

“I couldn’t be better.” Preston wanted to add that it was because of her presence, but he decided that would just sound awfully corny. Being corny just caused a lot of emotional issues for Preston, especially after hearing Victor bring down the moon and starts for Shelby. His older brother was very dramatic about things, and he didn’t want to end up making a fool of herself in front of Sara, though Shelby seemed to like it. But then again Shelby and Victor kind of liked being the center of attention, well he could certainly speak for Victor in that account, and since Preston wanted to be as different as Victor as possible, he decided to not add anything that could potentially embarrass him.

He smiled and pointed to the blanket and picnic basket the prairie-elves had prepared for them. This was a special occasion, and as he thought about it, the last conversation he had with his father before returning to school came to mind for the umpteenth time since he had decided to do what he was about to do. His father had asked him about Sara, since she frequently came up in his letters home, and he wanted to know how things were going. Moreso since the Raines and Stratford’s had began friendly social exchanges. Apparently there was a lot of potential in a marriage between the families. Preston honestly had not thought about that. He liked Sara and social standards dictated that having a formal relationship would be better to their reputations, especially hers. Preston was following social norms and a myriad of feelings he didn’t quite understood.

Preston began walking towards the blanket, suddenly getting nervous about his plan. He had a surprise for Sara, it wasn’t much, but his mother had told him that a simple gesture went a long way, especially if the relationship wasn’t settled. The Aladren stopped and leaned down to fish something out of the picnic basket. Preston took out a single red rose in perfect state and handed it to Sara, “For you.”

When it came to girls, Preston had a lot to learn, but he was willing to learn it. It was like a new knowledge quest, and he loved those. He smiled at Sara, “I wanted to ask you something,” he said blushing a little bit, “Wouldyouliketobemygirlfriend?” he said very rapidly. She probably hadn’t understood anything, since he had hardly heard himself say it. He cleared his throat, “Would you like to be my girlfriend?” His green eyes looked directly at her full of hope for a positive answer.

0 Preston What is gone?? 0 Preston 0 5

Sara

April 02, 2012 7:51 PM

The nothing you said was going by Sara

Sara smiled when Preston said he couldn’t be better. “I’m glad to hear it,” she said sincerely, still smiling up at him. She could tell that she was taller than she’d been when she was, say, thirteen, but Sara had become resigned to always being a short and small even for a witch. She still worried, sometimes, that she just looked like a little girl instead of an elegant young lady who just happened to not be very tall, but she had stopped thinking that someday, because she had taller parents or luck or whatever, the situation might resolve itself and she might obtain a figure like, say, Eliza Bennett’s.

It was worth noting anyway, she thought, that she had a much more respectable circle of friends than Eliza did, so perhaps there was something to be said for being her instead of the other girl, with her more striking looks and personality. Sara smiled again as she settled down, careful of her skirt, for the picnic and pressed her hands together as an alternative to clapping them when the basket turned out to contain a rose for her.

“Thank you so much,” she said, lifting it to her nose for a moment as a cover for any blushing she might have been doing, and to give herself a second to get a brief spell of butterflies under control in her stomach. She thought for a moment about tucking the flower into her hair, but then decided that might be a little much and instead put it in her lap.

“Yes?” she asked when he said he wanted to ask her something, but when he did, she couldn’t really make it out, he said it so fast. She caught ‘you’ and ‘friend’ in there somewhere, but wasn’t even completely sure about those, not to answer him, anyway. Before she had to ask, though, Preston seemed to collect himself and he asked her what he’d been planning to ask her so she could understand it.

She was surprised by what it was, but she couldn’t see anything wrong with it. Plenty of people had a beau or two before getting married, and even if things continued the way her parents thought they might with her and Preston, well, it would just be all the better. She liked the idea of, no matter how things ended up, having a time of being more than friends but less than hugely official, and besides, if they were going to keep spending so much time together, some of it relatively private like this, which she thought they had both been planning to do, it would look better to have something acknowledged out there, so it didn’t look like they were slipping around. It was one of the frustrating things about being a girl, having to work hard to get attention from a boy, then just be lucky if she was like Sara and did like him, while still always keeping in mind the need for an absolutely perfect reputation.

“I’d like that,” she said, and then, on impulse, leaned over to kiss his cheek. If he was her boyfriend, then she thought she was allowed to do that.

0 Sara The nothing you said was going 0 Sara 0 5

Preston

April 03, 2012 7:15 PM

Oh that...yes it did. by Preston

She had said yes! She had! Preston now had an official girlfriend and before any of the Carey Twins. He smiled and was pleasantly surprised when Sara kissed his cheek. The blush he had been sporting earlier returned in full force. If he honest with himself he had not thought about the after, because getting a positive response from Sara had been the most important thing, but now that they were officially a couple he had no idea what to do. Would things be the same? Probably not. But how much was it going to change was the real question. The kiss on the cheek was a nice change and he wasn’t really complaining. Sara had been the first girl, not related to him, to kiss him on the cheek.

“That is settled then,” he said with a smile on his face. Pres had no idea what to say in celebration. This was just too foreign and new for him to understand, but he was enjoying the feeling of having something that he had gotten for himself instead of his father handing it to him. Yes, his father had approved of his friendship with Sara, but he had been the one that had made it happen before he had been asked to, or more accurately Sara had been the one that had approached him during the Sinclair party so many years ago. The thought made his smile grow wider.

The fact that he was doing things without the help of his family – well, with their help in a more indirect way, because the Stratford name usually opened a lot of doors – was helping reassure his male ego. At fourteen the redhead had a lot of ambitions and goals, and feeling self-sufficient made him happy, like he could conquer the world with Sara by his side, of course.

Preston sat beside her, “What is being Prefect like? Are people in your house causing you trouble?” He knew that Pecaris were known for causing trouble and quite frankly he didn’t know why Sara was in that house. She was far from being a trouble-maker; she was better suited for Aladren or Crotalus. Pres was arrogant enough to think that he knew better than the sorting potion. Plus, he knew of some Pecaris that were somewhat wild, though he knew of some Crotalus that were just as bad. Maybe he was missing something and researching how the potion actually worked was in order.

0 Preston Oh that...yes it did. 0 Preston 0 5

Sara

April 04, 2012 3:36 PM

Fantastic. Something is better to have here than nothing by Sara

As she sat back, hardly able to believe her own daring, Sara noticed that Preston was blushing brilliantly and worried that she’d crossed a line too soon, but then he was smiling at her, so she smiled back a little goofily, the light, giddy feeling expanding in her chest helping her to put off awkwardness for another second or two.

Inevitably, though, things did get awkward, or at least they felt awkward to her, and it was Sara’s turn to blush. She didn’t really know what the protocol for this was, either, but she should have been quick to make something appropriate up once it became apparent that Preston didn’t really know what to say or do now that things were, as he put it, settled, either. She was the girl in this relationship, and it was a witch’s place to always make everything very charming and correct. She had only been in a relationship with a male person for a minute and she had already made a mistake, though at least her beau didn’t seem to notice too much – he was still smiling, anyway, and it didn’t look too forced.

Mentally, though, she made a few notes. For one thing, she was going to have to write her mother a long letter as soon as she got back to her room later. For another, she was going to have to have a very long conversation with Fae as soon as possible – she needed to do that anyway, she needed advice about something else, too, but this would definitely have to come up now. For a third, she was going to have to try to sketch out a calendar for her and Preston – she was thinking supper together at least once a week, maybe twice, walks at least twice a week, perhaps some joint study sessions. It was hard to plan dates here, where there was nowhere to go that they didn’t go every day anyway, but she would have to work it out, and she would need to get the advice from her mother and her friend before she called anything final.

Also, if she got time, she needed to encourage Fae with Arnold, and really hope that either Fae and Arnold egged on Arthur and Alice or that Arthur and Alice simply sorted themselves out. There was nothing to be done about other fifth years making a comment or two, even if she was only in fifth year instead of fourth by a margin of less than month, but she was thinking ahead to the summer, when she and Preston would undoubtedly attend some parties together. It would be much nicer if they had friends who were in couples, too. Much less awkward for their friends, anyway. There was a reason there was usually a rule about engaged couples being seated across from instead of next to each other at dinner parties, after all, and this was not much different in that respect.

For now, though, Preston was saving the moment by bringing up – of all things; it was funny, since normally it was a male’s part to come share the troubles of the day with a sympathetic female who asked, but they were in a different set of circumstances right now – her prefectship. And moving to sit next to her. Should they hold hands? No, she’d already been forward enough for one day. If they did that, he’d initiate it. She tucked back a piece of her hair a little self-consciously, wishing she’d worn a brand-new dress.

“Not yet,” she said, still smiling. “I suppose they haven’t gotten used enough to waking up early again yet, so they’re too tired to cause much trouble.” Though she didn’t think Pecari always caused as much trouble as their reputation might make them seem to, it was true that hers was not really the most sedate House. Though really, Crotalus could be just as bad, from all she’d heard about it. Besides, it had Raines in it. “It’s still very new, though, I’m still learning what all of my duties are.”

She looked for a moment to the picnic they had to allow for an acceptable pause in the conversation so she could move the topic back to him. “I heard you have a new roommate in Aladren,” she said. “Has that made the start of the new year interesting for you?”

0 Sara Fantastic. Something is better to have here than nothing 0 Sara 0 5

Preston

April 05, 2012 3:58 PM

I agree by Preston

Preston listened to Sara talk about her house and chuckled. It was true that people were still getting used to getting back to school. After a few months of freedom, without a specific schedule it was hard to get back to the routine. He, of course, had no such problems. The redhead always lived by a routine. He got up early – though not as early as when he was in school – and started his day eating and it continued like that. He had a fail-proof routine that enabled him to be productive and have “fun” all in the same day. His schedule had dramatically changed this summer, though. He had to include parties and luncheons and more social things. His summer had ceased to be his, he now was owned by the social responsibilities he had as part of his family, and he was still getting used to it. Sara had helped in that department.

“Glad they are behaving. If they give you any trouble I can lend you my Beater’s bat,” he said very seriously. Preston opened the picnic basket and offered a cold bottle of pumpkin juice to Sara, “There are other beverages in here, if you prefer.” He continued looking for his preferred snack and after he finally found it, he looked up at her.

“I don’t like him that much. The Transfer sleeps at odd hours and he was just thrown in the middle of a room dynamic and disrupted it.” The redhead refused to call the new boy by his given name. He was The Transfer and that would change until he did something that gave him the privilege and honor of calling addressed by his name. “It was hard sleeping with another three people in a room, but four has just become unbearable,” he said with a sigh. Preston had never shared a room with someone and it had taken him the best of three years to get used to the Careys and Russell.

“I am sure it will take time for me to get used to the new room dynamic, but there is something about him that just unsettles me.” Preston had family all over the world and he had heard about the boy’s last name before. However, he hadn’t thought it would be important information and had dismissed it. He needed to write home and ask his parents about him or go directly to his Great-Grandfather Ignatious.

“What do you think?” Preston took a bite of the apple he was holding and waited for Sara to give him her opinion on the transfer. The redhead had come to realize that Sara was very smart and her opinions mattered.

0 Preston I agree 0 Preston 0 5

Sara

April 06, 2012 4:12 PM

We're off to a good start, then by Sara

Sara smiled, just short of a laugh, when Preston offered to loan her his Beater’s bat if the Pecaris began to misbehave. “I can just imagine what the columns would say about that,” she said, thinking of the gossipy news pieces women of their social circle devoured so often. It would, she thought, be quite the thing if they reported in the fall that the girl who in summer had been so charming and ladylike during her debut had taken a Beater’s bat and begun hitting uncooperative members of her House with it. It would be a horrifying thing for her and her family to get through in real life if it could somehow happen, but it was a funny thought like this. “I’ll keep it in mind, though,” she added lightly.

Honestly, she didn’t even know how much good a Beater’s bat would do her in Pecari, though. She had always felt invisible within its walls, a strange thing that didn’t belong there and so it was just easier for everyone to act as though she were not. There were Pecari traits which were very suitable to a pureblood lady – the ability, for instance, to improvise and survive through any situation that might come up – but most of the House had those traits plus others and a different background from hers.

Of course, when she thought about being in Crotalus or Aladren, she thought she would be just as overlooked, she just didn’t have the sort of bold, compelling personality to stand out there, so maybe it was just her, rather than Pecari. However, she thought she would have made a much more effective prefect in Teppenpaw than any of the other three Houses, where she’d have to work much harder just to get them to notice her. That was her own insecurity, though, and she didn’t even know that other people saw it the same way, so the important thing was to do her best and do it gracefully at all times.

“This is fine, thank you,” she said, accepting the pumpkin juice and taking a few sips while Preston found what he wanted in the picnic basket. Then she listened sympathetically to his roommate problems, though she wasn’t sure what to think about him still calling the other boy ‘the transfer’ like that. “That does sound bad,” she murmured when he mentioned the Transfer slept at strange times. She could just imagine how unpleasant that might be to deal with; she found it hard enough to deal with one roommate, sometimes, if not a little because she had always had the feeling that Sophie disliked her for no good reason, but first three and then another who got up and came to bed at unusual times…."I'm sure you'll be fine, though, whatever he does," she added, with a smile conveying her confidence in him.

She took another sip of the juice as he said the transfer also unsettled him for some reason, then asked her opinion about him. “Well, I haven’t met him yet,” she confessed. She had seen him, of course, but there had been so much on her plate since the new year began that she hadn’t gotten to introducing herself to Preston’s new roommate yet. Now she was more curious, and officially having a relationship with Preston made it more important than it had been before, she supposed, but would have done it soon anyway. She was a prefect now, which added a little urgency even past just wanting to know everyone. “I’ll be sure to let you know when I do. I'm sorry he's disrupted all your group dynamics, though."

0 Sara We're off to a good start, then 0 Sara 0 5

Preston

April 08, 2012 6:24 PM

I think so by Preston

“Thank you.” Preston sighed in annoyance at the unfairness of life. Here he was happy he had a girlfriend, but quite annoyed that his 4th year at Sonora Academy had been disrupted by the entrance of a fifth member of the Aladren boys. The Transfer hadn’t done anything directly at him, but he had the misfortune of trying to enter into a well oiled wheel of dynamism between the four of them. Part of him was sure that Arnold and Russell had no qualms about the new boy, but he was sure Arthur was a tad but more distrustful. One could say that Preston and Arthur were more alike than what Arthur was with his twin.

“I will probably get used to it after a few weeks,” he said after a few minutes of mulling things over. Preston was quite grateful for Sara’s confidence in him. It made him feel bigger than he actually was. For most of his life he had been raised as the second son, as the Spare to a family that mostly only cared about their power and wealth. His parents had never been mean to him or anything, but he knew that he was just the second son, one that would take the place of the first if something bad happened to him. It was just the way the Pureblood society worked and he had made his peace with it, but Sara made him feel like he mattered.

He smiled at her, “How was your trip to Spain?” They could spend their time together with him whining about something he couldn’t change no matter what he did, or they could talk about things that were more pleasant. The Transfer was not going to disappear even when he complained about him, so it was stupid to waste his time talking about him.

The redhead suddenly looked worriedly at his new girlfriend, “Oh Merlin. What will your father think about our relationship?” He straightened up. “Do you think I should have asked for his permission?” Apparently he hadn’t thought this through. What is Sara’s father thought he wasn’t worthy of his daughter? What if he thought saw him as a disrespectful boy by asking Sara without any regard to her family? Preston gulped now plagued with the uncertainty of her family. He knew his family would approve of this, but he was the male in the relationship and it was very different for her.

0 Preston I think so 0 Preston 0 5

Sara

April 09, 2012 6:57 PM

Then I don't think anything can get in our way by Sara

“Of course,” Sara said when Preston conceded that he’d probably adjust to the interloper in his dorm room in a few weeks. For one thing, it was almost certainly true, but also, it was what she thought her mother would say, sitting alone with Father in the parlor and listening to him talk about the problems of his day and then talk his own way back out of some of them, since sometimes it was just enough to hear himself saying things out loud and working out the solution in that safe environment, though there were also times when Mother offered some opinion or piece of advice that really helped him with whatever it was he was faced with.

That was what she hoped to do, now with Preston and eventually as a wife: to be the perfect partner, not only having the children and acting as a hostess and not complaining about any of it, but also being someone who was trusted to hear about the real world, and listened to and really respected in her own right, if in a quiet way that didn’t cause her or the man of her life to breach propriety. That would not, of course, be good; there was not much use in being treated with respect by one person and universally held to be a scandal by everyone else.

For now, though, she was happy that Preston decided to talk about something more pleasant. “Oh, it was lovely,” she said. “My cousins all teased me at first, they always do, and said it was like I didn’t remember any of my Spanish, but of course I did. We had the loveliest parties, and there were several books my aunt had us all read that I thought were just wonderful. I’ll have to remember to write the titles down for you, if you like.” Another thing she would like very much was if she and Preston could read the same books and discuss them sometimes. She didn’t think her parents did that, but there was something about the practice that she found so charming. Plus, it was something that might help with common interests, especially since he was an Aladren.

Sara was a little surprised when he brought her father up so suddenly, but more because it seemed sudden than because of the reason he did it. She held her hands out pacifically. “I’m sure he’ll approve very much,” she said calmly. “It might be nice, though, if you did write him a letter and explained that you’d like his blessing for a – relationship – “ she liked the sound of that; it was the stupidest thing, but she’d liked it when he mentioned ‘our relationship’ a lot – “with me. I’m sure he’d appreciate the gesture a lot.” Her father, she was sure, would be very nice; he was a very civil man, and he’d made it clear enough that he approved of her acquaintanceship with Preston. He would like the gesture, though, Sara was sure of that. It would just be a bit nicer for everyone involved, she thought.

0 Sara Then I don't think anything can get in our way 0 Sara 0 5

Preston

April 11, 2012 3:10 PM

Sounds about right by Preston

Preston has been too preoccupied about the realization that he had gone over a very important man in Sara’s life that he hadn’t heard anything she had said about her trip to Spain. He was going over everything in his head and for the life of Merlin, he couldn’t see why or how that simple request happened to slip his mind. He felt awful. Preston liked having everything planned to the smallest detail and in the first opportunity he had completely blown it off, so much for being a responsible adult. He would need to owl his father and ask for his advice…maybe send Sara's father something along the letter Sara had suggested. The redhead knew the man, but he couldn’t assert or even imagine how he would react to this. His father would have good advice on that account, or if her father was angry he could intervene.

A little voice in the back of his mind was telling him that he was over-thinking everything, but that was something he always did when something happened, especially if it was his fault. “A letter sounds like a good idea.” The Aladren calmed somewhat after Sara’s calming words. He cleared his throat, “Are you sure?” His earlier paranoia came back as soon as an image of her father hexing him came to mind. Preston shuddered at the thought.

The redhead sighed again, “Sorry, I was distracted and the accounts of your trip were lost.” He smiled at her, “Would you mind repeating? I am very much interested.” The Aladren was a little bit jealous about her trip, especially because his had been cancelled. He had spent the whole summer in Vermont and there was nothing very interesting to do there. It was the same old sceneries, and Preston wanted to see more of the world.

He briefly wondered what Sara would think about his future plans: graduating from Wesley College with a big shiny diploma in Magical Anthropology and then travelling to interesting places. Maybe she wouldn’t like the idea very much, but it was too early to go so far ahead.

Taking deep breaths was helping him get calmer. The day was nice and there was nothing he could about the big blunder he had made. The only thing left to do was trying to make it better, and he would, as soon as he got to his room.

0 Preston Sounds about right 0 Preston 0 5

Sara

April 12, 2012 8:41 PM

Only 'about?' by Sara

Sara smiled, pleased, when her suggestion was accepted as a good one, but then laughed when Preston asked if she was – she thought this was what he was asking, anyway - sure that a letter to her father would smooth things over neatly. “Yes, I am,” she said in a tone which left no room for uncertainty. “Father is very nice. Just be very polite in how you ask – which I’m sure you would be anyway – and it’ll all be fine.”

She really did think that. Her parents had already indicated that if they weren’t yet completely for it, neither were they against the idea of her marrying Preston, which was a much grander leap for them to make than simply approving of this. She was their only daughter, and having her a brother later hadn’t stopped them both from doting on her, but they knew that these things were inevitable sooner or later, and it probably helped that they had liked each other before Father spoke with both of her grandfathers about the issue; where would she have been, after all, if her mother’s parents had been too overprotective and old-fashioned about it all? Still, though, it was better to have him ask before they made things too public; dating was an iffy issue in their world, after all, since it wasn’t permanent and if it was handled wrong it might mess up all of her chances.

And maybe his, too, of course, but the simple fact of it was that a boy could get away with much more than a girl could. Boys could have dalliances which went nowhere, and while ruining the reputation of a girl from his own class would certainly give Preston a terrible reputation of his own, it might not actually ruin him completely. He might marry in the end, when the considerations of blood and money and politics combined in just the right way, and start over and have everyone either forget about his former indiscretions or see them as youthful foolishness and him maybe as a little impressive for rising above them; if a girl did manage to save herself after the exact same scandal, which admittedly, a few could if they had sufficiently fond or overly-proud-in-a-certain-way relatives, she’d be like Aunt Lila, forever looked at sideways. Either way, though, it was better for them both to keep things as tidy around the edges as they could.

“It was lovely,” Sara said when he asked her to repeat what she’d said about her trip. “I’m so fond of Aunt Margaret, you know, and this time we were together with my mother for a while, too. Some of my cousins were insufferable, of course.” She smiled when she said that, though. “But they always are, and the company was always wonderful. Aunt Margaret’s had something to do with introducing an awful lot of the most interesting people to their wives, so now she always has the best company.”

Among other things. Sara was old enough, now, to know there were other reasons to know interesting and influential people besides just having the best company all the time. But that wasn’t very important right now.

“Hopefully you’ll get to meet her one day,” she remarked, then moved the subject back to him. “I was sorry to hear you didn’t get to travel as much as you wanted to this summer. It’s always so nice to go somewhere else for a while, and see other things. Do you think you’ll have better luck next year?”

0 Sara Only 'about?' 0 Sara 0 5

Preston

April 15, 2012 3:32 PM

Sorry..Sound <i>right!</i> by Preston

Dating in the Pureblood world was something complicated and not really used. Girls and boys from prominent families ended up with arranged marriages and they were lucky if they knew each other before their wedding. Even when formally dating was something weird, it wasn’t unheard of. Victor had dated before getting betrothed to Shelby, and as far as he knew, he had various girlfriends prior to it. The last one had caused a rather serious family spat because the girl had not been up to his parents’ standards. It had been quite the scene. But Sara wasn’t like that girl; she was perfect in every sense. His father had approved of his friendship and making it more formal had been touched once or twice by his parents. To be honest he hadn’t really thought about that far into the future, because it was somewhat scary to think of himself as something other than an academic, though it didn’t sound that horrible.

Sara asserting her faith in her father’s positive response to their relationship was calming and the redhead smiled feeling better than he had a few minutes ago. It really had been something stressing to realize that such a mistake could mean the end of something that had barely started. “As soon as I go back to Aladren I will write him that letter,” he said out-loud more to himself than her.

His girlfriend was nice enough to repeat what she had said about her trip, which made everything easier for him. He felt bad about not really listening to her speak, but he could say he had a good reason to do so. “Your Aunt seems like a very interesting person, and I would love to meet her one day.” He smiled. The realization that they were making long-term plans, albeit vague ones, made the redhead’s smile grow wider. It was nice to know that she wanted him around for the long-run.

However, his smile turned into a frown at the mention of next summer, “I doubt it. Father and Mother are rather immersed in wedding things. Victor marries Shelby during the midterm after this one,” he sighed. “The wedding is all they can talk about and it is getting quite annoying. Nothing else matters, but Victor’s nuptials,” his tone was a little bit bitter. “Father and Victor went house hunting during the summer, since they will live abroad for two years after the wedding.” The house was going to become part of the Stratford Fortune. When he finally attended Wesley College he would live there.

0 Preston Sorry..Sound <i>right!</i> 0 Preston 0 5

Sara

April 17, 2012 5:35 PM

Much better by Sara

If Sara had been given completely her own way, she would have supervised the writing of Preston’s letter to her father, but she knew instinctively that asking to do that might be going a little far. Preston was an independent personality, and she thought it would wound his pride if she implied he might not be able to talk to Father, after a fashion, man to man. Annoying him and maybe hurting his feelings didn’t seem like the best start to get a relationship off to.

“I’m sure you’ll write a wonderful one,” she said instead, trusting to a life of pureblood training combined with Aladren brains to make it true. Maybe it was better for Preston to do it on his own; boys and men were different from girls, after all, so he might know more of what to say than she would anyway, and Father couldn’t very well hear her voice in it if she didn’t have anything to do with it. She was sure her father would consider this something that was her business and that she should be involved in thinking about, that wasn’t it, but he might prefer to deal with Preston, at least at first while they were getting to know each other, mostly in the slightly mysterious world of males, without her intervening between them.

When presented with an idea, it was Sara’s nature to start making plans, but she held off on the discussion of dates when he said that he would like to meet Aunt Margaret sometime. It was just a comment, and it was a little early for that; openness to the idea was promising, but it didn’t mean anything at this point. Besides, because of their ages, a lot still did depend on things with their families that their families might not tell them about until late in the game; she’d have had to consult with her family, and he with his, to figure out anything anyway.

“Oh, dear,” Sara said when he admitted all his family’s plans were beginning to center on his brother’s wedding and didn’t seem likely to move away from that until after the wedding was over, next Christmas. “I guess I ought to see more of the advantages of only having a younger brother.” She and Alan were far enough apart, with him only set to start school next year, that it seemed very likely that she would be married first, and therefore be the one whose wedding plans derailed a sibling’s life for a while. Six years didn’t seem like an awful lot from one perspective, but from another, if he got married the day he left Sonora, she thought she would be nearly twenty-three then. That wasn’t old, of course, but no one would forget, if that happened, that Catherine had been barely eighteen when she was married and had already had her second child before she was twenty-three.

She listened with interest, though, to the part about international house hunting. “Really?” she said, intrigued by the idea. She was nearly as comfortable in Europe as she was in Illinois, but she’d always imagined that when she got married, she’d only rarely get to ever go back and would instead be expected to stay home and be a good hostess there full time. “Have they decided on a country yet?” Perhaps, if it was somewhere she was familiar with, it might give her something to discuss with Preston’s sister-in-law, if they ever crossed paths. If they did start to meet families, it would be important to have things to say to them.

0 Sara Much better 0 Sara 0 5