Hidden Feelings No Longer ((Sita and Aaron))

[Ingrid Lewis H4]

Ingrid didn't know what to expect at the ball. She knew it had a theme and that if you stepped into an area with mist, you sang what you felt, but Ingrid still didn't know what to expect. Would she sing about how sorry she felt for pushing Sita away or how angry and frustrated she was at Aaron and his immaturity? It could swing either way and Ingrid would much rather it swung in the first direction. Regardless of how the evening went, Ingrid was going to the ball. She didn't want to get too dressed up, but she was wearing a pretty dress with a pair of black high top converses to make her outfit casual. Her long blonde hair was down and she wore no makeup. After all she was only 12, though her 13th birthday would be in a month. She didn't know how much she was looking forward to that if she was at all. Ingrid bit her bottom lip before she left the washroom. Moments later she was in the 2nd year girl's dormitory. No one else was in it, which meant Ingrid was running late. Oh well, that wasn't a problem especially since there wasn't any set time for the ball to begin. She hadn't told anyone that she had planned on attending the ball so she figured Sita had already left, probably with Harmony or someone else to that equal measure. Ingrid scowled slightly as she pulled her deep pink sweater on her arm. She fixed the sweater and then grabbed the small handbag, made sure she had her wand, and left the dormitory.

The common room was already empty and that was fine, she'd rather not be spotted. Ingrid left the empty common room and started the long walk to the Great Hall. It really wasn't that long of a walk, but to Ingrid it seemed momentous. The length of the walk wasn't the problem, it was what lay after the walk. She was still rather apprehensive about going to the ball. Ingrid didn't know how much fun she would have. The only ball she had gone to was the one last year and for the most part that was fun, but that was a different Ingrid then. This Ingrid wasn't as easily pleased as before. As she neared the Great Hall she could hear music, but not people singing. She knew there was a live band aside from the magical musical mist. Hogwarts never held back when it came to balls or parties. They were always extravagant and well planned out. Ingrid wondered who it was that thought up all the events that went on. The professors maybe? Did that mean the Prefects helped? It was an interesting thought that Ingrid hadn't even questioned before. Would she ever be named Prefect? Was that highly unlikely? She knew Sita would make a good prefect, so she wouldn't be too surprised if Sita was promoted to the highly coveted spot. That was years from now, though, and Ingrid didn't need to be worrying about it.

Ingrid stood outside the entryway to the Great Hall, debating whether or not to enter. She could just turn around and go into the common room to spend her night there. What good would that do? She had gotten this far, turning back would just knock her back down again. Ingrid took a deep breath and entered the Great Hall. The music flowed around her, but she didn't notice. The thing that held her attention the most was the shimmering half of the Great Hall. There were already peoplel dancing and singing as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Ingrid shook her head before heading to the non-enchanted half of the Great Hall where the food was. She picked up a goblet of pumpkin juice and took a drink of it as her eyes scanned the area. It took only moments to see Aaron trying to pick up some older girl and then to spot Sita. Ingrid took another deep breath and approached her friend. "Doesn't he ever give it a rest?" she asked with a sad shake of her head.

[Aaron Byers H4]

Aaron hummed happily as he made his way into the second year dorm room. He twirled around slowly by the foot of his bed, before setting the roses down on the mattress. There were at four different colored roses. One was pink, the other white, third red, and the fourth yellow. Girl’s liked flowers, which meant, flowers went cheap on Valentines Day. It had to be one of his favorite holidays, besides Christmas and Halloween. Expect for the fact that Aaron really didn’t have a girlfriend. He was only twelve; there was plenty enough time to have a girlfriend when he was older. Anyways, it was more fun to flirt then be attached to a girl, though he was getting quite attracted to a seventh year Hufflepuff, Jordan Cortes. Shrugging at his thoughts, Aaron picked up Ralf from the top of his trunk, setting the rat down on the bed. “Touch those roses and you’ll never get a slice of cheese ever again.” The rat just squeaked trying to find a spot on the bed to sleep on. Aaron pulled open the top of his trunk taking out a brown cap that you would normally see on old men, with a brown stripped dress shirt along with some kaki pants. Who said guys had to look like penguins for balls?

Closing the trunk, Aaron began to get dressed into the new attire. Buttoning up the buttons on the front, he then sat down on the bed, tying the shoelaces of his brown dress shoes. Fixing the cuffs at the end of the shirt, Aaron smoothed out his outfit, standing up from the bed. Pulling the hat over his blonde hair, he turned around at the mirror, where his reflection stared back at him. Aaron quite liked how everything looked. His green eyes sparkled merrily, with a few strands of his hair in his face. Aaron hadn’t gotten a haircut since the beginning of the summer, and it was becoming quite long. His mother kept on threatening that she will cut it herself one day, but she wanted her son to come to conclusion it needed to be cut. Folding down the top of the collar, Aaron picked up the roses from the bed, heading out of the dorm room. Aaron zipped past all the couples that were in the hallways, until he finally made it inside of the Great Hall.

Professor Dumbledore told everyone that there were parts of the ball that were enchanted that would make people sing and dance like they were in a musical. Aaron shrugged as he made his way over to the non enchanted half of the hall spotting a pretty looking girl by herself. Smiling as he walked up to the girl, he handed her the rose winking, but stopped as an older guy put a gentle hand on his shoulder. Turning around Aaron laughed nervously handing the rose to the boy. “Girls like flowers,” he said as the guy nodded and Aaron walked away from the couple. It was soon when Ingy came up to him, which Aaron grinned at her. Handing her the yellow and pink flower that matched her outfit, he smiled at his friend. “Glad you made it Ingy. Come on lets go have some fun.” Taking her hand, he looped it in his arm, heading toward the enchanted half of the hall. Music soon started to play and Aaron looked over at his friend. “I know a girl who's tough but sweet. She's so fine, she can't be beat. She's got everything that I desire. Sets the summer sun on fire,” he sang twirling Ingy around before continuing on with the song.

“I want candy. I want candy. I want candy. I want candy. Candy on the beach, there's nothing better. But I like candy when it's wrapped in a sweater. Some day soon I'll make you mine. Then I'll have candy all the time.” Aaron continued on with his song, dancing with Ingrid.

[Sita Mehadi H7]

Sita swung her legs back and forth as she sat on Gavin's bed in the 2nd year boys' dormitory. She had on a long, flouncy black skirt which reached down to her mid-calves, but as she was sitting down it only just covered over her knees. A lavish black ribbon on the back of the skirt was restricted by her having to sit on it, but it would look fine when she stood up again. The black material was patterned with white butterflies, something she'd always liked in her childhood. The whole skirt was a reminder that while she was becoming a thoughtful and grown up young lady, she still wasn't just ready to leave childish ways behind her. Of course, Sita didn't think of her outfit in this way. She was just thrilled to be wearing high heels; she wasn't a particularly tall girl and they raised her up to everyone else's level. They still weren't particularly obvious as she sat on the bed, though. She smiled at Gavin as he returned in through the door, about to listen to the stream of chatter that she'd never seen him discouraged from, but her smile turned to a look of horror when she heard Aaron's distinctive humming making its ways up the corridor off which the different boys' dormitories were located. She was too fed up with him right now and too proud to make an excuse to go away.

"Say a word about me being here and you won't say another word for a while!" she hissed urgently at Gavin, before propelling herself underneath his bed. It was very dark under here, and her head soon made contact with something hard and solid. It wasn't just the edge of the bed though; she felt for the source of her immediate headache and found it to be rounded at one end. A baseball bat, she concluded, knowing her friend's hobby. Sita thought she heard the door closing, and was about to presume it was safe to come out when she heard Aaron's voice again. So she stayed put, and soon became aware that her head was perilously close to the rather unpleasant smell that was predominant in this enclosed atmosphere. She shoved the offending items further away from her. Old trainers! How disgusting, Sita thought as she shuddered and let out a very subdued "Eurgh!" Thankfully for her Aaron left the room soon after and she was able to make her way out tentatively. All clear, but no Gavin either.

Sita brushed down her skirt and top, but really her presentation was still fine. Her hair was up in the usual multiple plaits, which didn't get messy all that easily. Then she set off, taking the route that she thought Aaron wouldn't have taken because she didn't want to bump into him now after having gone to such efforts to avoid him. It was easy for her to slip through the other people present and she soon arrived in the Great Hall. She spent a while just standing there and taking the scene in. She could see some people already inside the floating mist, and wondered what dramas of their own lives they were acting out. She wanted to go and join someone, but she didn't know any of the people. Then she heard a familiar voice right beside her and turned round with a happy smile at her friend. "Hey," she said in greeting as she followed Ingrid's eyes to the subject of her question. Aaron. Well, he was the only person she'd seen make Ingrid smile properly. The idiot didn't appreciate the significance of that himself though, he sometimes seemed to remain entirely oblivious. At least, that was how it appeared to Sita. It seemed to her like she was the one trying the most and the one cast away the most. Not fair, a small voice protested at the injustice. Her thinking didn't show too much on the surface, although since Ingrid knew her so well she was perhaps one of the people who would have been able to notice it.

"Maybe if one of them actually responded to him he'd realise that it's not what he really..." she cut off as Aaron started talking to Ingrid. Hadn't he been too busy to a moment before? What really made her blood boil though, was that he hadn't acknowledged her presence. Not at all. He might as well have looked straight through her. Was she really such a ghost of her former self? She blinked back angry tears as he dragged Ingrid off and wandered herself somewhere, anywhere, where it wouldn't be obvious that she was about to cry. But there was nowhere to go but further into the crowds of people, and soon she realised that she was enveloped by the mist and that, her urge to cry ceasing, she had more need to go and tell the unfeeling beast just what she thought of him. Sita stormed through the mists until she broke through the stars that surrounded Aaron and Ingrid. The ignorantly happy music was joined by a discordant guitar strum, and Sita spoke rather than sang her first word, filling it with anger and indignation.

"Hello?
Am I invisible? So really insignificant?
Be kind enough to listen to a long-awaited rant."

Aaron could hardly remain oblivious to her with such an interruption, and she pushed him into a tango that wasn't particularly smoothly performed due to the fact that she still felt the need to cry. The rhyming patterns changed as quickly as her anger rose and ebbed.
"I'm a person too, life isn't all about just you.
Step back and think a minute;
Yes, forsake some time for me.
I need a need for me, and yet to me you just deny it,
Well consider what you do, and help me redefine it.

"Hello?
Am I invisible? Don't need me anymore?
It's too late now, you should have told me years and years before.

"I'm a person too, life isn't all about just you.
Step back and think a minute;
Yes, forsake some time for me.
I need a need for me, and yet to me you just deny it,
Well consider what you do, and help me redefine it."

Sita stopped singing, and the music died immediately. Tears rose in her eyes as she attempted to glare defiantly at the both of them, but especially Aaron. She wasn't even cross with Ingrid. It just hurt her that Aaron didn't think it was worth acknowledging that she'd actually been talking to her best friend, and had been happy to whisk her away instead. Well, she'd just sung about it - there was no getting away from her now.

[Ingrid Lewis H4]

Ingrid smiled when Sita began to give her opinion on the subject of Aaron never getting tired of ‘picking up’ older women. She was starting to enjoy the conversation she was going to inevitably have with her best friend, but something interrupted them. Or rather, someone. Ingrid tossed Sita an apologetic look over her shoulder as Aaron dragged her over to the misty side of the Great Hall. She was still looking over her shoulder when music filled the space around them and Aaron’s voice started to sing some song that Ingrid recognized from the radio. Her eyes remained on Sita, but Aaron was pulling her this way and that and it proved difficult to continue to watch Sita from all angles. With a defeated sigh, Ingrid turned to face her friend and danced with him half-heartedly. Soon, though, their happy music was clashing with an angry guitar strum. Ingrid jumped and whirled around to face Sita in her rage. She took a tiny step back as Sita sang and pulled Aaron into a tango. It was so odd seeing Sita so angry and upset. Ingrid felt her stomach turn as she realized that even though Sita was singing her angry words at Aaron, she felt a little anger toward her as well. What did Ingrid expect? A homecoming party when she decided to come back into her friend’s life? She chewed on her lip as she watched Sita finish her song. Tears were in Sita’s eyes and tears were welling in Ingrid’s as well. Without looking at Aaron, she knew he was about to respond, but she held up her hand to stop him.

“Stop! Just stop! Just… don’t. Don’t!” She was speaking, but music was starting to fill the dead air that Sita’s angry music had left behind. It was a soft piano, just all the good notes. All the notes that Ingrid liked. Slowly, Ingrid lowered her hand and arm to her side and let her head hang as the words built up inside her to pour from her trembling lips. For someone who was controlling every urge she had to cry, the song that tumbled out of her was clean and smooth; “I’m tired of fighting, of feeling like this. I’m tired of dreaming, my life was pure bliss.” She looked up now, tears rolling down her cheeks as the piano continued to play around them. “I’m ready to move on, to make a huge change. I’m ready to get on, to act my age.” The soft sweetness of the piano was then joined by some drums and a guitar. It all sounded very nice, but it was far from mellow and even further from angry. It just held a defeated sound to it. One that mirrored Ingrid’s emotions exactly. She turned to Aaron, took a step forward and pointed an accusing finger at him as more tears fell from her grayish blue eyes, “You insist on acting four, you think it’s all fun and games. But you don’t know, ‘cos you don’t endure, the pain that comes with funny names.” Ingrid shook her head at him as the instruments built up to the chorus. She stepped away and threw up her arms in defeat; “Soooo I’m sick and I’m tired, but you don’t care! I’m sick and I’m finished, just leave me here!” It was a short chorus, but it meant a lot. And as it died down, Ingrid dropped her arms over her head and bent over to bring her head to her knees. Her shoulders shook with sobs as the music calmed to the piano’s tinkling again.

“I know I hurt you, I pushed you away. But what can I do? I was crying every day.” Ingrid looked up as she stood and wiped away her tears from her cheeks. She looked over at Sita as she sang this next part; “Aaron, he’s funny, and he makes me laugh; but there’s something that’s not right; there’s something that he does lack.” Ingrid reached over and grabbed Sita, pulling her into a hug and squeezing her with all her might; “You’re my best friend, you put up a fight; you didn’t let go, even when I thought it might…” Ingrid let go of the hug and stepped away from Sita with a sad look in her eyes. She did a quick twirl and then sank slowly to the floor, her dress spreading out around her as she bent her head down to stare at the pattern. “Be better that way.” She whispered as the music faded, only to come back with a crash of the cymbals. Ingrid looked up the moment the crash happened and glared daggers at the two of them; “Soooo I’m sick and I’m tired, but you don’t care! I’m sick and I’m finished, just leave me here! Because I’m sick! Yes I’m so so sick! I’m sick of it all… please… just let me fall…” Ingrid stood from the floor and grabbed Aaron’s wrist with her right hand and Sita’s wrist with her left and pulled them closer to each other so they were about two steps apart. “You two fight this out,” she sang quietly as the piano resumed to its beautiful playing, “what you two feel,” Ingrid’s voice was slowly going from singing to speaking. “I’m done with this all,” she dropped their wrists and stepped away, “With this whole ordeal.”

The music died away, leaving that dead air around them again. Ingrid watched Sita and Aaron. Contemplating just running right then. No. She couldn’t do that. She had said what she had wanted to say, and now it was time to see their reactions to what she felt.