An aimless stroll(Anyone)

[Rayne Hamilton R3]

Rayne was at pretty much a face off with Rachel. She felt sorry for Ender in a way as Rachel seemed to be turning it into a face off between herself and Rayne. There was no way she was going to loose to this wench but she wasn't going to sacrifice a friend to win. Rayne wasn't going to worry about showing off after all Rachel didn't know how to play and it wasn't about impressing Rachel it was about having fun. She had just sat down and was waiting for Ender to take his seat and either accept or to turn her down politely. As she was waiting she heard faint music coming from the room down the hall. It was music she recognized because it was a variation of the music box she'd played for Vlad. Rachel mentioned going to get him or she would get him herself. "Hold that thought." She told the two people in front of her and she rushed out of the room.

Sure enough one room down she found her friend playing the piano. Something she knew he did for fun and when he was sad. From his posture and his completely ignoring her entering she was banking on sad. She knew what would save them both. If Vlad would come with her she'd have the positive reinforcement she needed and he would have company. "Come on love follow me our good friend Rachel is in the next room along with one of my new friends." She said touching her friends shoulder and steering him out of the room and into the Room of requirements. She made a mental note to take Vlad aside and talk to him in a heart to heart manner he looked like he needed to talk to someone who cared. She definately qualified.

She had only been gone for a few minutes and there was no telling what Rachel had done but she was sure it was nothing good. Hopefully the damage undoubtedly done to Ender wasn't permanent and between her and Vlad hanging out with him he'd see just how horrible Rachel was being. "Come on lets go play checkers you won't be alone and we can rescue my new friend." She whispered to Vlad leaning in close so only he could hear her. To the group she said in a very cheerful voice "Lets get a double game of checkers going me and Vlad vs. you and Rachel."

[jess4ever]

When Rayne left the room, Rachel turned to Ender.
"She doesn't seem to like me very much, does she?" She said miserably, looking up at him.
"Maybe when she has her friend here she'll enjoy herself a bit more," Rachel said determindly, nodding briskly. She was having the time of her life. And Ender was even pretty good looking when you looked at him closely. She gave him an impulsive hug and then laughed.
"Sorry, I just felt like hugging you," she said cheekily.

Rayne and Vlad walked in and Rachel smiled.
"Vlad, so good to see you again," she said cheerfully.
"Let's get a double game of checkers going me and Vlad vs. you and Rachel," Rayne declared, and Rachel smiled smugly.
"That will be so much fun!" She cried happily. Especially with your friend Vlad here, she thought. She turned back to the checkers table and laughed.
"Sorry, Ender, but you'll still have to teach me how to play."

[hakhuraziel]

Vlad was drowned in the merciless sorrow of the piece when a hand reached for his shoulder, startled he halted his playing messily and spun around, not expecting any visitors and expecting something nasty. He was fasr to face with Rayne who looked really soft and pretty under the blue light which still spun the room, she was staring right at him with her eyes beaming, and he followed where she led... not submissively but because he saw no reason not to.

Leading him into the other room he saw rachel and a boy he had never met, they were very close together and Rachel was squeezing his hand while they both gawped at a rather large checkers board that only Hogwarts could conjur up, with such finely crafted playing pieces as finite as the piano he'd just been on.

Rayne whispered to him that he wouldn't be alone, and the words meant more to him than she'd intended, probably just his hormones playing tricks on his mind again, but he was really grateful she was so kind to him. Not really introducing himself to the situation he took a seat opposite Rachel and she turned to notice him there, he gave a greeting nod a small gesture soon to be overridden by Rayne's announcement of a 2 vs 2 checkers game.

Vlad wasn't much a fan of sports or games, but it was christmas and there was little else to do.. atleast it was warm here, and there were people, even if two of them most probably despised each other. He looked curiously forward to how this might turn out.

[shinypenny31]

(Sorry for my Absence)

Ender smiled. "OK." he said to Rachel. "I'm not bad but I'm definitely not good." he said laughing. Vlad and Rayne were seated opposite of Rachel and himself. The expression on Rayne's face did not show angry anymore. She look kinda happy. She had a very big smile on and was talking cheerfully, but Ender could feel a very large disturbance in the room. He could tell Rachel did not like Rayne and vice versa. It also seemed like Vlad had been pushed into this also. This was going to be a very interesting game indeed.

Ender still felt the jump he had gotten from Rachel's hug. Because of his uncontrollable hormones Ender might have leaned over and kissed Rachel if Vlad and Rayne had not entered the room. He had never gotten attention from witches or wizards but especially not witches. At home he was the athlete, the one that all the girls loved and wanted to date.

Ender knew that if he went with Rachel he would lose Rayne and Vlad as possible friends. If he went with Rayne and Vlad then there might be a chance still to have Rachel as a friend. Ender glanced over at her and then his eyes looked at Rayne. The two were both very attractive. Ender's eyes returned to the checkers board. "Alright. Lets get started" he announced

[Rayne Hamilton R3]

((sorry we got carried away))

Rayne smiled as all parties agreed to play. Ender claimed he wasn't very good at checkers, Rachel made it clear she didn't know how to play. Rayne wasn't very good at checkers either and she wasn't sure if Vlad knew how to play or not. Taking that and the fact that Rachel and Rayne hated each other this was going to be a very interesting game. At least she had two friends to Rachels one with her. That in itself assured Rayne that no matter what happened tonight she'd win this survival of the fittest that Rachel had been trying to force upon her since their first meeting.

Rayne looked down at the checkerboard and was happy to note that she and Vlad were the black pieces. It was a superstition she'd come up when she was a kid playing with her grandma that black always won the checkers game. Plus black was just her favorite color she had a good feeling that Vlad and herself could win and it had nothing to do about Rachel not knowing how to play. Rayne studied the board and made the first move. "your turn love." she said to Ender and Rachel

[shinypenny31]

Ender studied the checkers board. "Alright. We are Red." explained to Rachel. "You can only move left or right corner wise. To defeat an opposing checker piece, which would be the black ones, you must land on their checker piece with yours." he continued. "Ill explain more once the knowledge is needed." He smiled at Rachel and then he looked where a counter move would be best. "Um...So I guess we will move here he said moving his Red checker piece farthest right.

Well this wasn't so bad. No one was at each others throats. Just a good old game of checkers. He was competitive but he was playing an attractive girl. Not good to beat girls. On the other hand if he was playing only a guy he would go all out. Ender would also let Rachel do most of the playing once she knew how to play. Hopefully checkers could bring all of them together. He glanced over at Rayne and the Vlad. "Your go." Then his eyes returned to Rachel. She had a very big smile on. She knew she could be happy but this happy looked extreme. What could she be this happy about?

[jess4ever]

Rachel settled back, content to let the others play for a while. Until she learned the rules properly she wasn't going to mess up the game. She glanced over at Rayne to see her smiling happily, and Rachel gave her a brief smile. Rayne was a worthy competitor.

Ender quickly explained the rules and then moved one of their pieces. Rachel leant forward and tried to work out a strategy. She looked up at Rayne and Vlad, and smiled. A slow, large smile spread across her face and she fell back into her seat. She knew how she could win. Not this game, of course. In fact, it was probably better to lose. But her competitive spirit knew how she could win so that she had Ender all to herself, because, as much as she hated to admit it, he was actually kind of growing on her.
But she knew that, at the moment, she would come second to Rayne, and she despised that.

"Battle tactic!" She declared. Turning to Ender, she quickly whispered in his ear.
"Sorry about before, Ender. I'll try to be friends with Rayne. I don't want you to suffer because we can't get along," before smiling at him and turning back to the game.

[shinypenny31]

Ender smiled when Rachel apologized. He didn't know what Rayne didn't like about Rachel. He whispered back "That's really nice of you but you don't have to do anything for me. That's really cool of you though." Rachel was being very friendly. He did not see any flaws with her and she was being extremely nice to Ender. Ender really liked her. She was willing to be friends with someone who didn't like her to make Ender happy.

Ender then put his arm around her shoulder. He felt all funny inside when he did this. He hoped she would not shrug his arm off or something like that. Instead he acted natural and just acted as if he had done nothing out of the ordinary. He tried to keep his eyes focused on the checkers board but they kept returning to Rachel. There was just something about her.

He was tempted to lean over and kiss her but thought that Rayne might not approve and decided not to. He had to see if Rachel didn't mind an arm around her shoulder first. Then maybe if he worked up the courage he might do something more. If he did kiss her and she didn't like it then she would be angry and Rayne might possibly be angry at me and Vlad might be angry because everybody else is angry.

[jess4ever]

Rachel smiled at Ender when he whispered back to her. He seemed to really appreciate that she was going to be friendly. And she was going to be friendly. For now.

Rachel then felt Ender put an arm around her. She looked up at him in surprise, but then smiled up at him. She snuggled back so she was closer to him, hoping she wasn't pushing it. He kept looking at her and she enjoyed being the centre of his attention. She then looked innocently over at Rayne, wondering how she was reacting to this.

It felt good to have someone appreciate her like this again; it had been too long. And the fact that it was being done in front of Rayne, and her friend Vlad, made it even better.

[hakhuraziel]

Vlad joined Rayne on the double leather seat she was still clutching his hand as she'd led him from the other room, she made the first checkers move and seemed eager to get playing, probably so she could whoop Rachels ass, or try to. 'Hey Rachel' he greeted her neutrally, and nodded at Ender politely before sitting back in his seat fully, putting his arm on the rest which was soft and warm. He didn't mind Rayne holding his hand he'd just not been expecting any of this, and he'd gone from being alone in privacy to a very social situation with a game he didn't know how to play! He smiled at Rayne who smiled back, and neither of them looked at their hands but it was kind of obvious they were happy about it.

Ender was trying to keep the simmering boil of Rayne and Rachel's hostile temprament to a minimum with some communal spirit and just being nice to everyone. He and Rachel seemed very warm and close, was this some kind of weird double date he'd been dragged into? Was Rayne using him to get one up on Rachel because she was a gooseberry to this pair? He let go of her hand just incase, he hated the idea of being used like that, he scanned the checkers board and how people were playing moves. Hmm, i think i see how this works, he thought.. it came to their turn and before Rayne could get her hand on a piece, he leaned in over her and made a move.. it turned out to be a terrible move and they lost three pieces to Rachels follow up blitz of a move.

'Oh, sorry' Vlad said genuinely to Rayne, he knew about their competition, he knew she didn't like looking weak in front of Rachel and maybe this would reveal whether he was just a tool for her or she really did like him. He was eyeing over at Rachel still unsure how to read her, and still unsure what she thought of him.

[jess4ever]

Rachel didn't let her face show how much she enjoyed taking three of Rayne's pieces. This game is surprisingly easy, she thought looking back up at Ender and smiling. She then looked over at Vlad and caught his eye. She couldn't decide whether she liked him or not. He seemed intelligent enough, but he was so caught up in Rayne, which said a lot. He didn't seem like someone she would normally associate with, but he seemed OK. Not good, but OK.

"Your turn, Rayne. Or Vlad," she said, nodding to him. She looked Rayne in the eye and gave a small smile she hoped looked sincere.
"Give it your best shot."

[hakhuraziel]

Deciding not to make the next move he waited for Rayne who was already thinking about it. Vlad sat back and saw Rachel smiling trying to catch Rayne's eye and figured she was up to no good since any interaction between them was bad news, and if either of them were smiling at each other, he wasn't being fooled for one second.

Vlad was smart within his own head, this didn't usually show itself in good grades or smart conversation, and he preferred to play tricks with people and the way they perceived him. Not saying much and being very inexpressive meant he seemed a mysterious character to a lot of people, and they could not decipher him. He liked to play on this, and as Rachel looked at him.. he gave her a sly flirtatious wink that noone else saw, and then a slight grin, before looking back at the checkers board and Rayne.

[jess4ever]

When Vlad winked at her, Rachel was on her guard. He had never expressed any interest in her before, so why now? What was he thinking? She searched his face slowly, looking for any clue as to what he was thinking. He was so closed, but she saw something underneath. He knew more than he let on. She liked that.

Threading her fingers through Ender's, which were still on her shoulder, she decided not to play along with Vlad, curious as to what he would do next. She smiled at him brieftly and dismissively, and then turned to Rayne, who was still deciding what to do next.

[shinypenny31]

Ender liked having Rachel snuggled up beside him and her hand in his. He felt all warm inside. His hormones were now taking over and he didn't mind. He leaned in as if to whisper to Rachel and put his hand up so that Rayne and Vlad could not see and would think he was whispering something to Rachel. He then kissed her gently and compassionately on the cheek. He smiled and turned back to the game.

Ender could not believe what he had just done. He tried not to blush and tried to keep it cool. It was not his first time kissing a girl but his first time kissing a magical one. Nothing different. He kept his arm around her and occasionally patted her back. He really liked Rachel. He liked Rayne but he seemed at the moment bonding very well with Rachel. Also Rayne acted as if she liked Vlad. Ender couldn't tell if Vlad liked her back but he figured he probably did and just didn't express it. He would have to keep that kiss on the down low.

[jess4ever]

Rachel was still staring at the checkerboard when Ender leant in. She thought he was going to whispered something, until he kissed her on the cheek. He turned back to the game and occassionally patted her back, and she turned and gave him a big smile to let him know that she liked him and liked him kissing her. Rachel couldn't believe it - she was really beginning to like this guy. She turned to Rayne and flashed a triumphant grin. It was a sweet victory. Or would be.

Turning to Vlad, she wondered what he was thinking. He was so hard to read! A minute ago he was openly flirting with her, and now he was just staring at Rayne and the checkerboard. She kicked his leg underneath the table hoping to get a reaction. She wanted to know what he was up to. And if a little friendly conversation between them drove Rayne insane, well, that would just make it even sweeter.

[hakhuraziel]

Vlad felt the sharp thrust in his shin, he withdrew his leg and realised Rachel had outright intentionally kicked him! He glanced back at her with both eyes in a low serious stare, nobody else had seen and he wasn't sure what her motive was. She didn't look too angry, more curious to see what kicking him would do. Vlad thought to himself how she was probably confused since he was purposely being confusing, he decided to carry this on and outstretched his leg discretely.

He rubbed it up against hers intrusively and almost affectionately out of sight of the board game, though to look at him from the waist up you'd think he was acting perfectly normal, if not a little down in the dumps.

He too was seeing how she'd react.

[jess4ever]

Rachel stared at Vlad discreetly, wondering how he would react to her kicking him. He didn't do anything at first; he had just stared at her. Then he did something unexpected. She felt him rub his leg against hers. She widened her eyes for a second, and then, composing herself, she just simply lifted her chin and smiled at Ender. He either wanted a reaction or was simply flirting with her.

She looked across at Rayne, and then glanced at Vlad. What is he up to?, she murmured. He couldn't be flirting with her, his body language showed he liked Rayne. Pausing, she quickly decided what she should do to decipher his true intentions. With all her might she kicked him square in the shin again, before nodding towards Rayne. Pretending to drop something she leant over the side of the table.
"What are you doing?" She whispered innocently, widening her eyes, hoping he would slip up and she would see what he wanted to achieve.

[hakhuraziel]

Although Vlad was having a lot of fun and clearly unsettling Rachel, who liked to be sure of herself.

He stopped with his legs and pretended he didn't hear her.

He didn't have to use much of his imagination to work out that when the person you really deeply care about is affectionate towards someone else, or when you even think of someone else laying their hands on them, it causes a lot of emotional pain. He didn't want to do this to Rayne.

[jess4ever]

Rachel sat up straight and watched Vlad. He had stopped touching her, but he hadn't answered either. She was fuming. He and Rayne deserved each other. Smiling brightly at him, she leant forward and whispered inconspicuously so no one could hear,
"Good." She then looked at Ender and smiled, before looking at Vlad pointedly. No one got away with treating her like that.

[Rayne Hamilton R3]

((jesus christ remind me not to leave my computer ever again or i'll never get a word in edge wise lol))

Rayne wanted to shoot herself. Vlad had lost three pieces to Rachel, not a bad thing he didn't know how to play she could forgive him. What was killing her was she was loosing and she could see it. Vlad had pulled his hand away from hers and that in and of itself was enough to make her want to leave and just be alone for the remainder of her time at the school. It was made worse at the realization she was loosing Ender. That wasn't a bad thing she no longer cared about him. It was obvious he was desperate. She thought he was desperate for friends something she had been more then willing to do for him he was nice and anyone who could get lost in the castle in their third year was worth knowing. It meant that they were probably like her, a loner.

Watching him snuggle up the little sleeper Rachel it was made clear to Rayne that he was desperate in more then one way. He was a teenage boy sitting dangerously close to a physically attractive female. It was clear he felt more connected to Rachel seeing as how she was giving him all the female attention he wanted and more. Which in Rayne's mind wasn't fair at all. First off she wasn't the type of girl to throw herself at someone she'd met ten minutes beforehand. Second off she couldn't exactly go up to Ender and just flirt with him not with Vlad there and not at all because it just wasn't her way. If Ender wanted to throw himself at some girl he'd just met who was physically attractive yet a complete wench on the inside then so be it.

Rayne knew how this girl really was she was a bratty little girl who was used to getting whatever it is she wanted. She was the type of girl who didn't get real problems. Rayne was willing to bet the biggest problem she'd ever encountered was that her parents bought her the wrong color winter formal dress. And even then she was the type of girl who would probably tear up the dress and send it back till her parents got it right. Rayne had tried to be nice to this girl and Rachel had repayed her by insulting her hair and calling her poor even though Rachel would deny that to the ends of the earth.

Rayne knew that when Ender undoubtedly chose Rachel over being Rayne's friend that Ender would pay dearly because Rachel would be absolutely horrible to him whether it be right off the bat or later on because Ender forgot their 2 week anniversary. Even knowing she was loosing this stupid battle Rayne stayed she would try to be Enders friend she would try to make him see. In Rayne's opinion that made her the winner.

Rayne smiled she knew something was up between Vlad and Rachel at the moment. Vlad didn't think she saw the flirtatious wink he gave Rachel but she did. Did she get jealous no she wasn't going to give Rachel the satisfaction of thinking that she was getting a rise out of Rayne. Instead she relied on her defences. Rayne was an excellent actress all she was showing on the outside was that she was happy to be with friends and concentrating on checkers. Inside she was a mixture of feelings she was sad he was flirting with Rachel she was pissed at Rachel mostly she was angry at herself for ever opening up to any of these people. If only she'd stayed to herself it would make life a hell of a lot easier. 'too late now.' she thought to herself. She was in too deep with Vlad she just had to trust that he wouldn't let her down. Realizing she'd probably held up the game too long she made her move in checkers and managed to take two of rachels and Enders pieces as well as taking her piece over to the other side. "King me love." She said smiling sweetly at Rachel.