Fairy-tales, non-fiction, fiction, mystery(Katie)

[ElinaHill]

" I was only five when my mother died. It was an unknown illness, something that took her quickly with no pain. No suffering, just a quick death. At least that’s what they told me until I turned ten and was old enough to understand. But what they didn’t know was that it wasn’t an “unknown illness” it was poisoning. At the age of of eight, I had started to wear black. Nothing but that color and even then did I know that by wearing that color, I would be cast out at school. But I still wanted to dress that way.My dad tried to talk me out of it but nothing worked.He even bought me a pink dress and wanted me to wear it.I didn’t even look at it. I stuck it in the back of my closet and never looked at it again. By the time I was twelve ny dad started dating again. His first girlfirend was Sharyll Hatten. Sharyll was annoying as hell. Her voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard and her laugh sounded like a horse whinny.Her hair was a blazing red and her eyes were just as blazing.Soon I started to realize my dad was just desperate. The next girlfriend wasn’t desperateness.No, it was attraction. She was younger and she insisted on being called “Suga” or “Candy”.”Candy” was a blonde ditz who shopped all day.She wasn’t my favorite girlfriend…in fact I do believe I hated her. The most recent girlfriend is Valorie.I liked Valorie.She was kind,smart,and funny.But apparently my dad didn’t think she was good enough for him.Valorie was out of the picture at the end of the first weel they started dating.

I’m fifteen now. And my dad was 40. Everything was fine, no noew girlfriends, I had friends, my sixteenth birthday was months away, and I had just gotten a boyfriend. But that was before that “unknown illness” that killed my mother, came behind and killed my father as well. It was the morning of April First Two-Thousand and Four and I had just came home from spending the night at my friend Amanda’s house.The front door was wide open and the front light was still on.I walked inside to find my dad on the ground in the entryhall.No pulse, no heartbeat, no movement.He was still and stiff.And he made me trip and fall.That’s when I felt the blood. I was in disbelief.No way could this have happened,My father was not dead.He wasn’t!He couldn’t be!Why would he be?! What reason?!I kept telling myself that the body on the floor wasn’t my father.Even though he was wearing the leather coat I had given him for his birthday.Even though I could smell his cologne that My Uncle Keith’s girlfriend made him.I wouldn’t believe that was him.I couldn’t let myself know he was dead." Elina looked down at the old story she had written so long ago and cringed at how horrible it was. She hated when she re-read her writings, it always made her look at it with hatred instead of admiration.

She placed the red pen down on the paper, that was sitting nicely on the table in front of her. The ink was nearly empty, she had used it so many times on this one paper that the pen was nearly ran dry. She had started with a brand new pen as well. It was always this way when she was revising something, always. And most of the time she hated it. Okay, most of the time was an understatement. She hated her writings, all the time. And by all, she meant 24/7. There wasn't anything in the world that could make her believe that one of her writing's was perfect, not one thing. She had been told too many times in her life that they were never good enough to believe they were perfect. Elina was about to begin revising again, her eyes dreading the devouring of the ugly words, when a girl entered the lounge. Elina looked up, and didn't recognize her at all...she wondered what would happen. Considering, Elina seemed ot be the only other person in the lounge at the moment.

[kaitlynrobbins]

Katie was making her way down the corridor to the student lounge. It was an ugly Saturday. The winter weather made what could have been a wonderful day free of classes, a grey, windy awful day. She had awoken a little later than she usually did and for some reason she was still quite tired. Katie was never one to stay in bed though, so she quickly jumped up and ran over to her dresser to find some warmer clothes to put on than just her tank top and shorts. She pulled out a pair of faded, super low rise, flared jeans and a white t-shirt. She was still shivering though, so she grabbed her washed navy zip hoodie to put over her t-shirt.

After brushing her teeth and putting on a slight amount of make up she had placed her sketchbook and her copy of “The Man in the Iron Mask” and placed them in her cream hibiscus shoulder bag, which she carried with her just about everywhere. She pulled her hair up into a loose, messy ponytail and that was when she had started out for the Student Lounge. Katie was wondering if maybe some of her friends would be in the lounge this morning. She hadn’t seen any of them in the common room or in the hallway on her way, all she had seen was a very mischievous Peeves and a very angry Snape.

Katie opened up the door to the lounge, but she unfortunately didn’t see anyone that she knew. In fact she didn’t see anyone at all! That was odd. Surely with the weather as dreary as it was, there had to be someone in the lounge. Wait a minute, she had skipped over someone. There was a girl of about her age with short jet black hair sitting a little ways across the room. Katie nervously walked over to the girl and took a seat across from her.

“Hi,” she said with her small, nervous smile, “It looks like we’re the only ones in here today.” She spoke softly as if she was afraid the girl would rip her head off with one wrong word, but that was just how she was around new people. “I’m Katie Robbins. I’m in Hufflepuff, 5th year actually. What is that you’re writing there, if you don’t mind my asking?”<br>

[ElinaHill]

If the ceiling in the lounge wasn't as high as it was, she would have hit her head on it, having such a surprise. Elina smiled as she settled her thumping heart and eyed the girl who had sat across from her. Elina wasn't one to make conversation, she normally kept to herself. Reading and writing, studying and doing essays. She was ambivalent like that. Elina smiled again, coming out of her reverie and held out her hand for the girl, who introduced herself as Katie Robbins, to shake.

"I'm Elina Hill, Ravenclaw 6th year." She introduced herself after they shook hands, her blue eyes focusing back on the paper in front of her. Red marks popped out at her and made her eyes waver to the side and want to stop. Elina couldn't keep a story, poem, or paper un-revised. Once she started something, she had to finish. So with a sigh that indicated she didn't want to but, had to, she continued to mark all the mistakes on her story. She was so into it, that she barely heard the girl ask what she was writing.

"Well, it's a story I wrote long ago and never got around to finishing. I sat down to finish it, but when I re-read it, I couldn't bring myself to write anymore; for it was horribly written! I just had to revise it! I mixed up the tenses, used horrible grammar, and could really use some synonyms for 'kind' and 'smart.' I could've used 'sincere' and 'intelligent!' Alas, I used 'kind' and 'smart.'" Elina seemed to have strayed from answering Katie's question, to ranting about how horribly she had written the story. Elina took this time to look around the empty Lounge and sigh at the emptiness.

"It seems to be that everyone else would rather spend their time, sleeping, or out in the courtyard. Why, I have no clue as to that question. But, I must say, I rather like the quiet in here. Normally it's so loud and chaotic that I can't hear myself think." She commented with a small smile. The sounds of the rain that was coming down from the skies, and hitting the window pane, thrummed in Elina's ears. And she was slightly surprised she could hear it.

[kaitlynrobbins]

Katie shook hands with Elina and listened intently as she spoke. Immediately Katie liked this girl. Elina seemed to be a lot like in her. She was quiet and conserved and just the way she spoke seemed to be very similar to Katie's own thoughts. She noticed that Elina's paper had quite a few many red marks all over it. It looked as if her pen had just bled all over it. But she knew what it was like to write something and then absolutely hate it. Katie had written quite a few pieces like that. Mainly essays for school that she thought just weren't perfect enough, but an occasional short story or two.

Hearing the part about her not using a better vocabulary made her think of something. "It's a pleasure to meet you Elina. I have a thesaurus in my bag if you would like to borrow it. I always keep one with me just in case." She reached into her bag and pulled out the slightly beat up thesaurus she had received on her 10th birthday. Katie placed it in the middle of the table so that if Elina so wished she could use it and if not, then that was fine too. She then pulled out her sketchbook her pencil pouch and placed them on the table in front of her. Katie figured that if Elina was working on something then she ought to be working on something as well.

The rain drops were playing a light pitter-patter on the lounge windows. Who in their right mind would want to be outside in such awful weather, when they could be inside with a warm fire. "I don't understand it either. Who wants to sleep away the day? Even with it being awful weather outside there are still things to do." Katie opened her sketchbook and flipped through the pages until she found a blank one. "So, do you need any help with your story? I mean, I know some people like to work on it all themselves, and I understand that completely, but if you need help with anything I'm open. As long as we're sitting here though, why don't you tell me a bit about you. I don't think I've ever seen you around school anywhere and if I have I surely don't remember."

[ElinaHill]

Elina smiled as Katie offered to help her with her story, "No, I think I am going to give up on this and start a new one. That or write poetry, I could even write my report for To Kill A Mockingbird, you see, I read a book and then I summarize it, so when I am talking about it, I can just pull out the summary and read it. It's quite simple, easier than re-reading it actually." Elina answered as she shoved the papers aside, neatly. She turned to Katie, who had started to draw. Elina had always been interested with art, though she was never very good at it. It was something she couldn't accomplish, that made her quite sore. Whenever Elina found she wasn't good at something, she tended to try and try again to get it absolutely right, and when she failed, she felt horrible. Elina despised being a failure, she wasn't cut out for the life of failure. Glancing away from the sketchbook that Katie seemed to be absorbed in, she sat back in her chair and thought over what to tell Katie.

"Well, I was raised in a family of four. My mother; Mereditch Hill is a chef for our restaraunt my father; Ben, owns. My sister Ashley is in Hufflepuff, and she is 2 years younger than me. My childhood until the age of 2 was just fine, I was treated with respect. But, when Ashley was born I was roughly shoved aside and ignored, neglected, and even forgotten. I spent most of my time in my room reading;writing; you name it. When my letter came, my mother had a few things to explain about her family. And she did, and I soon came to accept it." Elina spoke with elegance, formal ettiquite, the type of speaking she did when she was talking to an adult. She rarely showed her actual years, she was much to mature for her age. Mia was really the only one who saw the real her, "Even now, 4 years later, do I sit in my room or dorm and study or read or write. I am socially adept." Elina added with a small smirk. She was relishing in her past events of her life. So very few happy moments.

"What about you? What's your life like?" Elina asked with a raised eyebrow and a small smile. She was enjoying talking with someone new. It was refreshing for her. She wasn't behind closed quarters, she was in the Student Lounge, making a new friend that was alot like her. It made her smile with joy as she thought of it. Elina was never this way, she was always quiet, conserved, collected, alone. Never out with a friend, besides Mia.

[kaitlynrobbins]

Katie nodded respectfully as Elina spoke. She felt a little sorry for her, being neglected and all, but it seemed as if Elina had handled well. She seemed quite content with her life. “My life? Well, there isn’t too much to say. I live in England, sort of on the outskirts. I live with both my parents and my two sisters. Amelia is two years older than me and Jane is one year younger. Erm, Amelia I’m not as fond of as I am Jane,” Katie said, adding the last bit a little unsurely. She didn’t want to go too much into detail with someone she had just met. With time came trust, and with trust came confidence.

“I really like reading and writing too. I read a lot of novels actually. Just in my spare time and all. But what I really love is horses. There’s a stable in the town where I live and it seems like I’m always there. I started taking riding lessons before I started school. I’m muggle born so my mother had me in muggle primary school. But anyway, I took riding lessons from a jockey at the stables. Jillian is really cool. I still take lessons during breaks from school and this summer I will be allowed to teach some younger children. Jane plays football ((soccer)), so she stays pretty busy with that, but she still goes to the stables with me whenever she can.”<br>
Katie sighed and bit her lip, thinking of how to word what she was about to say,” Amelia, well, she just turned out a bit different. The three of us were in piano and dance lessons when we were younger. Jane didn’t like them, so she quit. I stuck with them until I went to Hogwarts. Amelia got really into ballet and piano though. She was the first of us to take horse lessons. Actually, watching her was what led me to want to ride also. Amelia quit horse riding altogether and it seems that ever since then she hasn’t taken to Jane and me very well. She’s practically indifferent when I go home and all she ever does is ballet and practice her piano playing. I don’t think she likes me very much and I know she doesn’t like Jane. Of course, Jane doesn’t really like her either, so she doesn’t mind. It’s just strange though, how people change like that.”<br>
“Anyway, I guess I really don’t have it that bad. I’m sure a lot of people have it much worse than I do, so I really don’t have much too complain about. I’m sorry to hear about you being neglected though. If you’re ever feeling really lonely feel free to owl me,” Katie smiled sweetly at Elina. Katie couldn’t imagine being shoved aside by her parents. As far as she could tell, her parents divided their attention equally between the three Robbins siblings. “So, you’ve read to Kill a Mockingbird. What did you think about it? I thought it was interesting. It was really sad though.”<br>