A Long Awaited Answer ((Brantley))

[Jasmine Anderson]

Jasmine sighed heavily as she tried to concentrate on the book open in front of her. Dusty was sleeping contently at the edge of the bed, pouring loudly. He was a lazy Kneazle, always sleeping or trying to get Jasmine to rub that perfect spot under his chin. Though, he was good company, and she knew he would keep her safe. Kneazle’s could tell if someone was bad, and so far, the cat like creature hasn’t sensed anything from her friends. Running her fingers through her dark hair, Jasmine sighed as she leaned her head back on the banister. She hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything lately. Not sense she got that cryptex open. Why did Jasmine always overlook the possible? It was an easy code, a five letter word that she and Brantley both had in common. Any dummy who knew they liked horses could tell that the word was horse. Vanessa could even figure it out before she could. If Vanessa wouldn’t have showed Jasmine the obvious, she would still be sitting there in bed trying to open it. Maybe Jasmine should take that magazines advice. Open your eyes to see what’s right in front of you.

Closing the book shut, Jasmine set it inside of her shoulder bag, standing up from the bed. Slipping on a pair of shoes nearby, Jasmine looked around the dorm room, noticing that all the girls were getting ready to head down for dinner. Giving Dusty a quick rub under the chin, she headed out of the dorm room and down the great hall. Jasmine slipped her hand into her coat pocket, her fingers moving the cryptex round. She hated how Brantley was always on her mind. Well, it was better than day dreaming of horses during History of Magic. Now she could add Brantley upon of another horse in the dreams, and that would occupy her for hours. Shaking her head from side to side, Jasmine smiled at someone who greeted her in the hallway. Following the mob of students into the hall for dinner, she stopped by the Ravenclaw table looking for a familiar face.

A grin curled onto Jasmine’s lips as she saw Brantley already eating alone at the end of the table. It looked like he was reading or something. Quietly, she went up behind her friend, her hands covering of his eyes softly. Jasmine leaned toward his ears, quietly whispering in it. “Do you want to know my answer?”

[Brantley Chapman R7]

His hand glided over the parchment as he wrote out his essay. His penmanship was as it always was, curly and cramped. Brantley hated his print and always wrote in cursive because of that. With one more word and his name signed at the bottom, Brantley had finished his essay. Making sure the ink was dry before he folded up the parchment, Brantley placed the essay in his robe pocket knowing it would be safe there until class. He looked up and around the Great Hall. He had used his free period to write the essay and he had done that in the Great Hall which had been relatively empty until a few moments before when the last class of the day had ended and people started streaming in for dinner. As the students started taking their usual seats, Brantley reached across for the goblet that had suddenly appeared in front of him. The chatter was ominous as he began to eat, but as his vision went black, he could only hear one voice. He smiled as Jasmine asked him if he wanted to know her answer. So she had opened the cryptex, Brantley felt a mix of pride for her and nausea as he realized that she was about to answer his question. The fear of rejection coming back to haunt him. He could still feel her breathing in his ear steadily as she waited for a reply. Brantley reached up, grabbed her hands and brought them to his lips for a soft kiss. “Only if it’s good.” He pulled her around so she was being forced to sit beside him.

Brantley watched her a moment before he started to put the food on his plate. He didn’t think he could eat anything, but he figured he could at least attempt to look like he was hungry. After all, there was no point in worrying Jasmine over his own worries. “Was the cryptex really that hard to open? A five letter word we both have in common. I thought it was rather obvious.” Brantley smiled teasingly as he raised the goblet of water to his lips. He didn’t mean to make it so hard and he had hoped that Jasmine would have been able to figure it out with the little clues he had given her. Obviously codes took awhile to get used to and to decipher or crack and Brantley had become rather good at doing all that correct on the first try. He liked challenges and he liked challenging Jasmine. He didn’t know why, but he really did. She wasn’t like any other girl he had met and spent time with. She was completely different. A good different. A different that made Brantley nervous around her, that wasn’t a bad different was it? He hadn’t ever felt like he did when he was with Jasmine and he brushed it off as an unusual feeling of friendship that he hadn’t had before. Maybe she was right, maybe his fear of rejection really shouldn’t keep him from making friends and maybe Jasmine was the best example for that.

“Are you hungry?” He asked as he placed an apple in front of her. Brantley bit into his apple a she waited for a reply. His stomach was in knots as she slowly gave him an answer to his question about the ball. What if she didn’t like balls? They could stay in the common room. That wouldn’t be a problem. All Brantley wanted to do was spend time with her.

[Jasmine Anderson]

Jasmine’s hands were still covering Brantley’s eyes, her lips still close to his ear. He didn’t say anything at first. The only sound she could hear was the noises from all the other students around them. Normally during dinner, Jasmine would sit with Sapph, Meyghan, or even Simone. She could spot them sitting together at the other end of the table, but Jasmine wasn’t going to sit with them that night. Actually, they didn’t even know anything about Brantley, only Vanessa knew. Jasmine’s eyebrows rose slightly when Brantley still didn’t seem to respond. She was about to pull away, but stopped as he took her hands, dropping a sweet kiss on her skin. A happy smile appeared on her lips when Brantley turned her around, making her sit down next to him. Jasmine reached down her pocket, pulling out the cryptex. She held it in her palm, her hazel eyes watching as Brantley began to pile his plate up with food. Did he seem any bit nervous about what she would say? He probably was, though, Jasmine found her self wondering if Brantley had ever asked another girl to something the way he did. The cryptex was a cute, original idea, a very Brantley thing to do.

Brantley soon brought up the cryptex, making Jasmine smile nervously. Setting the cylinder shaped object beside him, she looked down at the floor. “Well….Um….I do tend to look over the obvious,” Jasmine spoke glancing back up at her friend, a calm smile still on her face. “Vanessa actually cracked the code really, and ate half of my chocolates.” Jasmine ran her fingers through her dark, smooth hair, ruffling it just barely. Strands fell onto her face as she turned around so her legs were under the table. “I think I need to take advice from magazines,” she began tucking the strands behind her ear, her gaze still on Brantley. “I need to see what’s right in front of me.” Turning around, her hazel eyes danced across each platter, looking for something that would fill her stomach. “I’ve never really believed what girl magazine really wrote until now.” Jasmine nodded her head, her mind making up the decision to wait on food for a bit. She still needed to answer Brantley’s question. He was probably in suspense.

Smiling and nodding thanks when Brantley set and apple down in front of her, Jasmine stared at the round shaped fruit. “See, normally I don’t go to balls, unless one of my friends dragged me along just to torture me for a night of gossip,” she began, pulling out the little twig that was in the core. “But, spending a night with you sounds more fun then lying around in bed all night.” Looking over at Brantley, she smiled brightly at him “So, my answer is simply yes.” Taking a bite into the apple, Jasmine realized she didn’t even have a dress to wear. “Ok I need to find a dress by next week…” Jasmine trailed off, swallowing before she spoke. “Why couldn’t you just ask me in person? I would have at least had more time to go look for something!”

[Brantley Chapman R7]

Brantley grinned, “Vanessa figured it out, huh? Well, I’m slightly hurt. I had hoped you would read it first.” The thought that Vanessa had read his question before Jasmine had made Brantley slightly sick but it was bound to have happened. It just meant that if he was rejected, he would be laughed at by not only Jasmine but by Vanessa as well. It would be something he would get over, but he hadn’t thought that far ahead. He had figured Jasmine would figure it out on her own, not have her best friend help her. Although he felt even more anxious now that he knew Vanessa had read it, Brantley knew that Jasmine probably didn’t mean to have Vanessa crack the code. It had probably happened out of pure coincidence. One of those incidents where Jasmine handed the cryptex to Vanessa in frustration who then cracked it on the first try because she knew Jasmine better than Jasmine thought and because it was a common fact that Brantley loved horses. With confusion riddled in his blue eyes, Brantley raised an eyebrow at her. “Follow a magazine’s advice? You mean, in one of those quizzes that you get your personality explained to you? Jasmine, you’re better than that.” He smiled and nudged her gently. He was joking completely, although she was better than that. Magazines of that sort were never real, they were all codswallop. That was half the reason why Brantley never read them.

He nodded his head when Jasmine told him she never really went to balls unless dragged to them by some friends. Brantley couldn’t help but chuckle when she said they liked to torture her with a night full of gossip. Brantley hated gossip, it was the root of all evil in his opinion. Things were misconstrued and problems arose by hearsay. People started to mistrust their friends or loved ones and that led to hate and hate was something the world had enough of already. Brantley felt his heart jump when Jasmine said she wanted to go to the ball with him. He watched her with a calm smile on his face and picked up a roll, tearing it apart in his fingers. His face held a secretive smile as he listened to her talk about a dress. There was more to the surprise. “Well, mademoiselle, if you’ll follow me.” Brantley stood from the table and held out his hand for Jasmine to take. When she had, he led her out of the Great Hall and across the entrance hall to the empty classroom directly across from it. He looked at Jasmine over his shoulder and smiled his charming smile before pushing the door open. They were both inside by the time Brantley closed the door. He knew Jasmine must have been confused because the room was completely empty.

As he withdrew his wand, he leaned over and whispered in Jasmine’s ear from behind, “Watch carefully.” With a wave of his wand, a beautiful berry coloured dress started to appear slowly. It was a strapless flat taffeta fit and flare, or so Ellie had told him when she had presented it to him. He had asked her to make it for him and she did it without question. Ellie was talented that way. When the dress had fully materialized, Brantley kissed Jasmine’s cheek and led her to the dress. “Ellie made it, do you like it?”

((Dress Here.))

[Jasmine Anderson]

Jasmine looked away from Brantley, biting her lower lip. She felt guilty now for not figuring out the code by herself. It seemed that he only wanted her to read the note, but she did, and told Vanessa what was written. Why would you just open up something that your friend helped you on, and not tell them what was inside? “I’m sorry Brant,” she said quietly, her teeth letting go its hold on the skin in her lower lip. Her gaze was fixed on the empty silver plate in front of her. “She only told me one of the possibilities. So really, I opened it, read the note, but was guided by a really close friend.” Tearing her gaze away, she smiled at Brantley, her hand reaching over to gently touch of his hand. “Like I said, I tend to over look the obvious…but the idea was really cute, and most definitely deserves a ten on the original scale,” Jasmine said, her hand brushing softly against Brantley’s before returning at her side. She laughed quietly as Brantley nudged her, telling her she was better than most magazines. It wasn’t that Jasmine believed whatever a quiz from a girl magazine said about her personality; it was just that the results were freakishly strange. “Well, let’s just say I have a new word now,” she said grinning while looking into Brantley’s blue eyes. “Spunkalicous!”

Taking another bite into the apple, Jasmine chewed silently watching Brantley with curious eyes. No hugs? Nothing like that? Just before she could even say anything more, Brantley stood up from the table, holding out his hand for her to take. Jasmine slowly stood from the table, slipping her hand into his, letting her friend lead her out of the hall. They headed across the entrance corridor to the other side where Brantley pushed open the door to an empty classroom. Letting go of his hand she looked around the room wondering why in Merlin’s sake he brought her there. Was this another one of his mind challenges? She stopped looking around when feeling Brantley breath against her ear. He was telling her to carefully watch, flicking his wand. At first, Jasmine could only see a tiny portion of what was beginning to get dematerialized. She stood in her tracks watching a berry colored dress appeared her breath stopping in shock. He couldn’t have? When the dress finally materialized she allowed Brantley to lead her toward her, her face showing clearly that she was in shock.

There was silence for a few seconds, Jasmine looking over every edge of the dress. It was beautiful. Ellie was really talented. “I don’t like it…” she began softly, taking Brantley’s hand before looking in his direction. “I love it, thank you so much.” Pulling her friend into a hug, Jasmine stood on the tips of her toes, dropping a short kiss on his cheek before looking back at the dress. Valentines Day was most certainly going to be fun if she was with Brantley.