Spinning Teacups {Carey}

[Isabelle Leynette R3]

Bella should have known from the way her mother kept glancing at her tote she was going to ask. “Bella.” Her mother began as she stirred her almost empty cup of coffee. “What are your plans for today?” Those where perhaps the first words spoken between the two woman that morning. Bella toke a bit of her omelet before speaking. “Out.” It was a simple answer but it seemed to get her mother worked up. Bella wasn’t aiming to be rude or to give her mother a panic attack. She honestly didn’t know what she wanted to do that day; her only mission was to get out of the house. Giving her mother a panic attack in the process was a windfall. “I bet your going to go to a muggle café and sketch all day.” Her mother guessed. She then proceeded to act like a child by adding “Am I right? Or am I right?” Isabella sighed heavily. She always sighed heavily in the presence of her mother. “I’m sorry mother. I’m afraid you are wrong.” Isabella said happily even though that was her intention. She would have to change her plans now. “You’re not going to catch a ride to your grandparents, are you?” Her mother tried once more, suspicion in her voice. But as the words came out she knew she sounded silly, paranoid even. But she couldn’t help it. Having her daughter leave her for her parents was always Victoria Leynette’s fear. Isabella stopped picking at her toast and looked up to give her mother a look. One that clearly read, are you out of your mind? Her mother gave her a feeble attempt at a smile. “No mum, I am not going to grandma’s.” she told her mother who tried to hide the wave of relief that came over her. “Well are you going to tell me where your headed to?” her mother asked getting slightly annoyed with her daughter. Bella wasn’t so pleased with her mother either. ‘Why must you push it?’ She asked her mother silently. Isabella didn’t feel like giving her mother details of what she had planned for day, but her mother didn’t let it go. She asked all through breakfast, and all through the cleaning process. As Bella headed towards the front door her mother threw one more far-fetched idea that Isabella would never consider. “Fine mom, you win.” Bella said sweetly as she fluffed her hair in the mirror. “My plans for the day are to get a tattoo, then go to a pub and get sloshed, afterward steal a motor bike so I can ride to grandma’s.” And with that she headed out the front door and to the driveway where a car set waiting for her. She climbed in the car and heard distant calls of “Please tell me you’re joking.” from her distressed mother.

Bella gave the driver directions to a park near by and leaned back in her seat. The park it self was small. Across the street where to cafes, and next to the cafes was a shop of useless junk. Isabella loved the park though. She used to play at the park when she was younger. She would try to swing higher that the branches or she claim the slide was her fort. Sometimes she would play blind man’s bluff with the other children or build herself a sand castle in the sand pit. But her favourite thing to do was sit on the merry-go-round. No matter the speed she wouldn’t get dizzy. She could sit there for hours just sitting as the merry-go-round turned. The older Isabella climbed out of the car and paid the driver. She walked inside the park and had to walk around a rather large puddle. She watched the children, they where everywhere. The occupied every corner of the park except one, where the merry-go-round, just like when Isabella was a child. She walked over to it and thought back to the simpler days.

Her pale hand grabbed one of the handles. It felt rough and cold to the touch. She began to spin the old merry-go-round. After awhile she grabbed another handle and pulled herself on to the contraption. She sat down so her back was against the pole. She was getting too big for it. She smiled sadly. This bit of information would have made the younger Isabella very happy. As the merry-go-round turned, so did her thoughts. She thought about school and her mother. She let out a small groan. This happened every summer. Her mother would occupy every inch of Bella’s life, including her thoughts. It was so frustrating. She was constantly looking for ways to avoid the next fight, or thinking of ways to make her mother miserable, she would almost forget why she was mad at her mother in the first place. The merry-go-round soon began to slow down and she was aware she was not alone. When she turned around she was surprised to see someone almost her age. She smiled at them. “Uhm, hello.” She greeted them.

[Carey Brighton H5]

Carey was starting to get agitated with her brother. Not that she didn’t always get agitated with him, but this afternoon she was getting more so than usual. “Jeremy! Stop it! Merlin, you’d think with that big head of yours you’d have at least some maturity inside it!” Carey hardly ever lost her cool when she was agitated. It was what made her an amazing business woman. But if there was one person who could really get under her skin, it was her brother. She batted Jeremy’s hand away for the twentieth time that day as she made her way down the main staircase that led to the foyer. She had no idea why Jeremy was fidgeting at her, but not only was he doing that…he was also playing her personal fashion assistant. “Yes, Jeremy! This is what I’m wearing today; why does it matter all that much anyway?” Carey entered the sitting room, ready to spew more complaints at her brother for picking at her clothes now, when she spotted a man sitting on one of the overstuffed couches. Carey stopped in her tracks and quickly put a name to the man’s face. He was Jeremy’s boss, which would explain why Jeremy had been so annoying. “Oh, hello Mr. Farwell, I wasn’t aware we were having company today…” she sent her brother a poignant look before continuing, “Do you have an appointment with my father, or do you like to see his head spin under stress as much as I do?” She smiled when the man chuckled at her joke. Mr. Farwell was a man who liked jokes and had always gotten along well with Carey. He thought that Jeremy was an overeager to please weasel, though, and Carey loved that.

“No appointment, I’m afraid. Jeremy here insisted I come for brunch, would you care to join us?” Mr. Farwell looked pleading and Carey almost accepted the invitation when she remembered she would rather jump off a cliff than eat brunch with her brother. “I’m sorry, Mr. Farwell, I’ve got plans for today, but perhaps some other time?” She looked at Jeremy who gave her an approved smirk before bidding farewell and backing out of the sitting room out to the front door into the bright day. Carey had been granted a lot more freedom lately because of all the good accounts she had been landing all summer long, so she was taking advantage of this new found freedom. She just found herself wishing she had been given the same freedom about a week ago when she had to sneak out to go to Ethan’s house party. Carey wasn’t one to break rules, she was a solid rule follower, and sneaking out was something that was new to her. She never snuck out, because she never had a reason to. If she wanted out, she could almost always count on Mallory to break her out; but she would never ask her sister to take her to a party. Mallory would undoubtedly see it as her rise to rebellion and try to get her to do so many other out of character things. Carey couldn’t handle that, and so she came to the conclusion that she would rather sneak out than have her sister break her out.

Carey wasn’t sure what she had planned today, because she really didn’t have anything planned… that had been a little white lie in order to get out of brunch with her brother and his boss. There wasn’t terribly much to do around the town that Carey lived in. There was a movie theatre about ten minutes away by foot but Carey wasn’t one to watch movies alone. So, Carey was presented with a dilemma. She didn’t know what to do with her day now that she couldn’t spend it around her house. Carey found herself aimlessly walking down the street, smiling at passersby and racking her brain for something to do. Finally, she decided to go to a park she hadn’t been at since she was a young girl. She walked in that general direction and wondered what she would do once at the park. Surely, there would be other people there, but little kids. Kids younger than her. Carey liked little kids but they weren’t much for stimulating conversation. Oh well, she thought to herself as she reached the park, I’ll just find something to spend my time. She made her way over to the swing set and sat on one of the swings. She swung higher and higher, reaching for the sky.

She had been right. Only little kids seemed to be there. They all were going on and doing their own thing. But after awhile, a girl who seemed to be only a few years younger than her entered the park and made her way over to the merry-go-round. Carey watched as she spun the merry-go-round and then sat on it. As the merry-go-round slowed, Carey jumped off the swings and walked over to the girl. Finally, the merry-go-round came to a complete stop and the girl realized she was standing there. “Hi,” Carey said in reply with a bright smile, “Mind if I join you? I think you’re the only here who knows their ABCs and 123s besides me.”

((Sorry it took so long! I just had to get Carey in the mood to find her way to a park. ))

[Isabelle Leynette R3]

“Hello.” Isabelle said again more brightly. There was an unusual familiarity about the girl who had just joined her. Isabelle racked her brain, where did she know this girl from. There was a long silence as she tried to remember. She bit her lip in frustration. She shook her head slightly. It was like having a puzzle with one piece missing. She decided not to fret about it; it would eventually come to her. Here was Isabelle, one of the smartest students at school, very organized and orderly, yet she couldn’t remember who this person was. It was such a nuisance, almost as big of a nuisance as her mother. She had to remind herself to stay calm for she was only human. This did allow Belle to relax a tad. But not remembering was like a dark cloud hovering over her head; making it impossible to think about almost anything else. It was driving her crazy. She knew it was a far drive. Maybe she knew this girl from all the times she went people watching at the two cafes across the street, or maybe she just had one of those familiar faces. She realized her was in fact fretting after she told herself she wouldn’t. Yet as much as she tried to push it back and get back to reality she was pulled back and she thought about it even more. It was like a rule of thumb. She was sure fate was looking down at her right there in the park and laughing at her. As is she had nothing better to do. ‘Why am I always grumpy when I think to hard?’ she asked herself and starting to feel for some of the people in her house. They always thought this hard. ‘Eventually, all the Ravenclaws will get together and figure out the value of Pi.’ She thought to herself with a small smile. She missed school and her fellow Ravenclaws. She looked at the girl in front of her once more and then it hit her.

Of course the girl she was looking at wasn’t a muggle. Belle felt awful for thinking she was one. No the girl was a witch just like Belle was. The girl was probably one of those people she saw randomly around the castle and didn’t feel like talking to them; mainly because they where older students. “Yeah, go ahead I’m not doing anything special.” She told her unsure how to mention she too was attended Hogwarts. She decided not to mention anything. Maybe the girl would recognize her. Isabelle was surprised at the number of fellow students she had met that summer so far. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised to find one at the park. She was sure it was due to the fact that the park was very small and also a muggle place. Not many people from her ‘world’ would go there. She smiled once more as she briefly remembered her mother freaking out as she left. She wondered how long ago it was since she had left the house. Belle figured it wasn’t more than forty-five minutes. Her mother would probably be leaving in twenty minutes to go one of her many appointments.

“So what brings you here?” Isabelle couldn’t help but ask. What can I say Isabelle is a naturally curious person? Her knees that where tucked to her chest began to feel sore.
She put them down on the ground and fixed her jeans. She didn’t realize how loud the children where and smiled. What where the chances of one of them going to Hogwarts?
They to may one day come back to this very park and think back to a less stressful day.


{{sorry it toke so long to get my reply up here as well, i've been so busy with volleyball :]}}

[Carey Brighton H5]

The girl said that Carey could join her, and Carey took no hesitation in sitting beside her on the merry-go-round. Carey really was impartial to merry-go-rounds. She wasn’t quite sure why, but she had a feeling that when she had been younger her brother had told her that if the merry-go-round spun to fast it would fly off and she’d disappear into outer space. Of course, that was a silly idea, but when you’re six it isn’t so silly. Nonetheless, Carey looped her arm around one of the bars and looked around the park for a bit, as if expecting Jeremy to jump out from behind a tree and shove the merry-go-round as fast as it could go just to send her to outer space. He probably would, too, if he could. Carey looked back to the girl and smiled at her question; “My brother’s boss is at home having brunch, and he’s one of those people you don’t like being around for too often because he tends to get very rambunctious. Plus, my brother’s no picnic either, so the park is my solitude.” She hardly ever wondered if she was providing too much information to someone. She was just open and she liked to talk and be friendly. She liked having friends. But sometimes people really hated hearing certain things elaborated upon. Carey couldn’t help it. She liked details. She liked sharing details, especially if she was asked a question.

“Anyway, the point remains the same…here is better than home, thus I am here. And how about you? Please don’t tell me you’re hiding from your brother’s boss as well? That’d be a bit too freaky for my liking. I’ve had enough with coincidences lately,” Carey smiled at the girl and leaned back against the pole of the marry-go-round, letting her leg dangle along the side of it. Her shoe kicked the ground from time to time and caused the merry-go-round to spin an inch or so but then stop and go backward. She didn’t want to make the thing spin, but she couldn’t stand being stationery for too long. It was just nearly impossible for Carey to do. She hated feeling stationery when she could be doing something else. She usually had her drum sticks with her so she was able to tap out things and keep her hands moving at a constant pace, but since she hadn’t brought her sticks with her? She was going to have to deal with letting her leg dangle for a bit.

Carey looked away again, watching a small toddler playing in a sandbox. She was taken to a mental flashback of being at a birthday party for a child of her parents’ business partner. She hadn’t been allowed to play on the toys with the other kids, and there was one particular moment when Carey had wandered over to the sandbox to play with the birthday girl and her father had snatched her away as if she were walking into a contaminated zone. He had lectured her, an 8 year old, for two hours on how she was above all the other kids at the party and how she should have been talking with the man in the navy pinstriped suit because some day she would have to be in business with him. Carey hadn’t heard a word; she had just looked longingly at the sandbox. In a sense, Carey had always wanted to be a regular child. Now, she turned her attention back to the girl with a small smile, “What’s your name by the way?”


((Again, sorry for the delay. I've been super busy with some things.))

[Isabelle Leynette R3]

Belle looked into the sky and at the fluffy semi gray clouds. She did this with a look of authentic curiosity, like a child with a brand new toy. They skimmed the sky at a snail’s pace giving time for Belle’s imagination to think up shapes and give them stories, a whole history about a place she would never go to. Beside her was the girl from school and she was telling Belle about what she was doing at the park. But Belle couldn’t take her eyes of the sapphire sky, she was entranced. A cloud larger then most of the ones she had been looking at came into her line of vision. She bit her lip speculating what she could make it into until she began to see an elephant. Of course it wasn’t an average elephant for he was relatively thin. She was upset at his owner for not feeding him more than realized she was talking about a cloud. What had gotten into her? She was woefully unconcerned about the well being of the animals she saw in the windows of the town pet shop, yet here she was troubled over and imaginary object. Oh well, she told herself, she could care about whatever she wanted; even if that thing was a cloud elephant. At least now she had something to ponder about, it was all thanks to that cloud elephant. “I know the very people you mean.” Belle told the girl agreeing with her. This made her think of Jason Fluke, her father’s personal assistant. He was the very type of person they were they discussing. She hated him with a passion; it wasn’t that he was rambunctious as the girl described her brother’s boss. No Jason Fluke was very sneaky, she was sure he was going to end hurting her father’s business, but her father was probably expecting this move and had his own countermove ready.

Belle thought about the question. She didn’t want to say something that could make her look like she was crazy. Not everyone had the relationship she and her mother had. She had to remind herself some people actually liked their parents. And the state of her mind was now in question due to the cloud elephant she named Hugo. “It would be ironic wouldn’t it?” She asked rather amused. “But sadly no I had to leave the house because I just needed a different scenery.” She said began thinking back to thirty minutes ago. It seemed so far of now. “I needed to escape my mother and her annoying questions.” She told her truthfully. She wasn’t sure how that’s seemed to someone that wasn’t her. Weird? Maybe it was. But Belle wasn’t normal, not even when she faked she was. Belle was special and had a special way of coming to solutions and working things in her mind. Sometimes it would just dawn on her how weird she really was. This never stopped her from being herself. She would still think how she wanted and say things that made people stare. This wasn’t one of those moments and she was somewhat relieved to not have someone look at her like she was crazy.

“Oh, it’s Isabelle, but please call me Belle.” She told the girl turning so she could see her better. “And you what’s your name?” She asked in return. This point in the conversation reminded her of kindergarten when people would introduce themselves while finger painting. At least that’s where Belle made friends. She loved the art corner, she as happiest there and soon everyone learned that. Her friends and she would spend all day painting kings and queens or some other character from that day’s fairy tale. Belle never did grow out of her art obsession, or like of drawing fairy tales. She still did. She had a whole set called fairytales with a spin. Her mother actually liked that collection too. Her father never had time to look at it, but this didn’t bother Belle, she had other people who actually wanted to see what she would come up with.

[Carey Brighton H5]

Carey nodded when the girl said she knew the very people she had been talking about. Sadly, there were a lot of people like that and it got frightfully annoying. It was as if there weren’t enough pigheaded and rambunctious people in the world so more and more just sprouted up out of the ground like…ants. Annoying ants that just marched on and on saying arrogant things and making people uncomfortable. Carey twirled her hair around her finger and looked at the swing set, humming quietly to herself. A little girl had climbed onto one of the swings and was being pushed by either her mother or her older sister, Carey wasn’t sure which. She was giggling in delight as she grew higher and higher. From the distance it looked like she was flying up to the sky. Carey smiled softly, thinking how nice it would have been to have someone do that for her when she was that age. At that age, Carey was learning the ins and outs of the family business and being quizzed on them. Her smile dimmed. Perhaps Mallory was right. Perhaps her parents were really controlling her life. She sighed slightly and turned her attention back to the girl that was sharing the merry-go-round with her.

“I can understand the need for different scenery. Sometimes I see too much of my house that I have to get out. Of course, getting out is always a problem. I think my parents would much rather keep me locked up in my room than let me out for anything; including school.” Carey chuckled to herself, “Which is kind of amusing, because I’m gone for pretty much 9 months out of the year and they drive themselves crazy when I’m gone. Aw, my parents would fall apart if I decided to move out.” Carey contemplated that. She couldn’t live in her parents house her whole life, and she had planned on moving out when she graduated. If she did move out would it finally give her a clean break from the business world? Would she finally be able to follow something that she loved? Not drumming, because although that was a fun pastime, it didn’t make a good career. With all her business training, though, Carey could get a job someplace else…someplace that wasn’t under her father’s strict ruling hand. “My mother doesn’t ask questions,” Carey smiled at the girl, “My sister does, though. She just tries to play the older sister role. You know, ‘Any new boyfriends? Like anyone? How’s school?’ That sort of thing. It gets annoying, but I don’t see her for most of the year so the times I do…I guess I can put up with it.”

The girl answered Carey’s question, giving her name, and then asked Carey for hers. “I’m Carey Brighton. If you’ve heard my last name before, it’s probably with Brighton Enterprises. My father is the head C. E.O. there. You know, he sits on his big chair and talks down to people as everyone runs around to do his bidding?” Carey grinned at her, “We deal in potions, mostly, but we’ve just recently merged with a couple of other companies and we’re expanding to some cosmetics, as well. If my father can land that account – or rather, if I can land that account.” Carey rolled her eyes and looked away for a moment. Her father really did prefer to use her to do his bidding than to do it himself. He said it was because people couldn’t resist a 16 year old who had ambition. Carey would admit that she was amazing in the board room. She never let any place for someone to strike her or her father’s company down. She was…lightening fast when it came to proposals and Carey knew it. Then again, she had been trained for it practically her whole life.

((I would like to direct you to my owl that I wrote up to everyone I post with. Read over it please. )

[Isabelle Leynette R3]

She spent so much time thinking about home and her problems there she seemed to forget one summer. One summer that spent completely way from her mother. Some would think she would remember this summer for when she wanted to smile. After all it was an entire summer away from the woman who complicated things so much. No one would believe that any memories from that summer only brought tears and sadness. When she happed to get up early enough to see the sunrise she would grab a blanket and sit on her porch and watch with tears streaming down her face. She didn’t give a lot of details about her life to people. Yet no one knew about that summer. The only person who knew was her Aunt Olivia, she was now dead. It probably wasn’t the best idea to go through her mother’s old diary. If she didn’t she wouldn’t ever known she had an aunt. Or the fight her mother and her aunt had. Then she wouldn’t have begged for a vacation to Paris for a whole summer. She wouldn’t have traveled and spent three months with her dying aunt. The things her aunt showed her where written in her heart and burned into her memory forever as much as she would have liked to forget them. The sites, her favourite little café, her love for art, and her favourite thing in the whole world: sunrises. She loved to watch the dark fill with warm colours of red, pink, and oranges. Both of them would site on the roof of Olivia’s, as she asked Belle to call her, apartment building and just think. It was defiantly an incredible thing, but Belle was only eleven. How was she supposed to grasp the fact that what her aunt had wasn’t treatable? When her aunt wrote her that October telling Belle she was going to be leaving the mortal world, Belle’s heart couldn’t take it. For those reasons she never told her mother or grandparents about her trip to Paris. She didn’t plan to go anytime soon either. She never even told them she knew about her aunt. It hurt her too much. She had almost forgotten about her aunt too, it was to painful to remember, but sometimes she happened to be sitting on a merry-go-round with a fellow schoolmate and look into the world and see a child with a smile that was to similar to her aunt’s. She would watch the child enjoy herself. They child was young. Oh, so young. She had a whole life in front of her. Not much unlike her aunt who to was young, of course not that young, but she was young. She was an amazing artist. She had a lot of things she never got to see before she died, like her parents, and sister. She never finished her collection of sunrise paintings. She sold her apartment and all her art before she dies, except one painting that was of Belle. Except Belle was to far in denial to even claim it. This was two years ago. It still hurt. Did she have to be reminded? It wasn’t entirely fair. Belle wished all these thoughts and memories would melt. That would perhaps be the silver lining about getting amnesia.

“I don’t have any siblings that can talk, well not yet. Mathew is just a baby he can’t talk so I get to play the big sister role even though I don’t get to see him to often.” Belle said for it was the thing she felt she wanted to talk about first. Aunt Olivia was still fresh on her mind and she was on the brink of losing her cool. She was above tears. She needed to be. She had to be calm, collected, and brave. She had to be the good example. If not for Mathew for other students around her. She then felt she needed to say something more on the subject of her parents. “I think my mom would want to lock me up too, except that I am too hard for her to control, we don’t exactly have the perfect relationship and fight so I sometimes leave early mornings to go to my grandparent’s house and they normally drive me home late which drives her mad.” Something had overcome her making her give off the more personal details of her life. No one really knew about Belle and her personal life. She didn’t want to say anything about her father, not yet. She didn’t know much about the man. He was just there playing the part, but he wasn’t the most convincing actor. She listened to the girl talk about a major company her father owned. Belle couldn’t help, but smile sadly. That was her father as well. “Yeah, that’s my dad. Mr. Boss man.” She said softly more to herself then to her company. She listened to the girl talk about the company her father owned some more. She felt bad for her. It must suck to have to do the dirty work. It didn’t seem right to have one’s daughter do it. She kept her mouth shut though; you didn’t say things like that to people you had just met.

She was enjoying the afternoon, happy she didn’t have to spend it alone. That is until the small child reminding her of her aunt skipped up to her. “Play with me.” She asked giggling. Her father soon rushed his daughter away telling her she mustn’t disrupt other people. Belle felt a pang in her heart. Why had the child chosen her? She didn’t know if she wanted to find out. She needed to get away. “I … I ah …. I have to go.” She said briskly jumping off the merry-go-round feeling the sting of tears coming on. “I’ll … ah ... see you in Hogwarts.’ Belle called over her shoulder not even realizing what she had said as she ran off towards the exit of the park just in time to feel the warm salty droplets on her cheeks. She brushed them of rudely and walked towards a pay phone to have someone come pick her up. She needed to call Victorrie, Olivia’s landlady, and see if she still had that painting. Belle needed her aunt right then. She needed the calm that one might find in the middle of the storm.