Don't Sell Me Short ((Ezzie))

[twiggy]

It was the first time in a long time that Gabrielle felt real anger. She was just too easy going to really, actually get angry about something. Annoyed, yes. Frustrated, yes. Completely and utterly homicidal angry? Not usually... However, today was the day that she felt it bubble back into her blood veins and steam out her ears. The day had been a disaster. It seemed like no matter where she went that day, some judgmental jerk would be around the corner waiting to pounce on her. She had woken up in a bad mood, thanks to a nightmare she'd had, and, once she started up the steps from the Common Room, the day turned to hell.

First, a group of first years pointed and began to laugh at how Gabrielle was dressed. It didn't bother her too much, considering she was used to it. Her converse shoes and stripped knee-high socks with "Anarchy" written on them.

"What is anarchy anyway?" One of the more snobby first years asked. Gabrielle ignored them and continued on her way. She wasn't in the mood for dealing with dumb firsties at the moment.

It just seemed to go on like that. Every floor, every corridor, every corner she turned, there was a student with fangs ready to attack.

As soon as Gabrielle was finally getting close to her class, a professor suddenly stopped her and instantly began critisized her skirt, which had a Sex Pistols patch sewed onto it, her puffed blonde hair, and dramatic make up. Gabrielle was used to the professors nagging at her choice of dress, but today was different. The professor was literally judging her. She was going on about how Gabrielle was a low life and might as well live with the Muggles, because she would never amount to anything in the Wizarding World. She skipped class, she defaced school property, and she refused to cooperate about the dress code. It was only a matter of time before she was expelled. She should just go home and live with her Muggle father and forget about being a witch.

Tears began to well up in her light gray eyes and she blinked furiously, refusing to show any weakness to the terrible woman in front of her. Once the professor was finished, Gabrielle turned and tried her hardest not to cry as she made her way to a safe place. She needed somewhere to go, where she wouldn't be attacked. She was tired of the prejiduce in this damn school. Why couldn't someone just understand what she was? She wasn't a freak. She wasn't a dead beat. She didn't even do drugs like the other punk kids from home. She just loved the music and the scene. It was so raw and familiar. She loved going to concerts and hanging out with her friends. The music bonded them beyond family. But not one person here could understand that? Because it was a Muggle thing. Only Muggles dabbled in punk rock. Only Muggles carried around music players. So what? Why was it such a big deal?

Gabrielle ran as fast as she could. The student lounge should be empty this time of day. All the students should be in class, which she suddenly decided to skip. She nearly tripped on a shoe lace as she rounded a corner and cursed at the tears freely falling down her pale cheeks. She made it to the lounge and shoved the door open, flinging herself into the corner and burrying her face in her knees. The professors words rang through her head, making her want to scream with the frustration and the anger of it all.

As she cried, a song rose into her mind. Bad Religion's lyrics "don't sell me short!
you've been wrong too long
don't brush me off
just because I don't belong
pass me on by, ignore my cry,
forget me when I die
just don't sell me short" sounded through her mind and she felt herself begin to calm. She even hummed it as she rocked back and forth.

[Esmeralda Mendez]

History of Magic was pointless. Well, at least to Ezzie it was. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with Professor Binns. Plus, she needed a brake from the everyday school life. It hadn’t even been all too long since she was back, but she had had just about enough of people in general. Casey and Carson were pretty much the only exception, but other than that, Ezzie saw no point in dealing with the pathetic nature of other people. The people in this school (or maybe it was simply the nature of teenagers) thrived on gossip. They were like leeches. They lived for sucking information out of others, simply so they could pass on that information to their equally pathetic friends. Ezzie didn’t understand this way of living. Personally, Ezzie had never been one for gossip. She hated ruining the lives of others by passing along information that was none of her business. But maybe she was just different from the rest of the school. They had no idea what it was like to have to deal with such horrible accusations.

Ezzie looked around the student lounge, knowing it would be empty during this time of day. Everyone was in class, or they should have been anyway. Ezzie took a seat by the fire, which always seemed to be roaring and warm. The room was very dimly lit, as it always was. There were desks and chairs everywhere, and the smell of burning wood and the faint smell of cigarette smoke (she suspected someone had been sneaking a smoke in here) loomed in the air around her. There were always empty seats in the lounge, even when the place was packed beyond capacity. She always figured maybe the elves did it to make sure everyone was accommodated. Ezzie took a seat and bored already, Ezzie decided to summon her guitar. She said the spell and smiled when she saw her newest acoustic guitar zoom into her arms. She was working on a new song, though most of it wasn’t exactly all there yet.

It was a song about TJ, of course. Ezzie just couldn’t forget him. He had been haunting her thoughts and her dreams to a point where she just couldn’t stop thinking about him. She couldn’t help it really, he made her this way. He charmed her constantly with his cute little letters and kept her whining for more whenever she was with him. He almost made her forget everything. Even though thoughts of him crept up often, TJ did an excellent job of helping Ezzie get over Ethan. Sure, she thought about him every day, but that didn’t stop her from loving TJ, no not at all. Ezzie figured her problem was that she fell for people far too easily. She couldn’t help it. Ezzie was strong enough, but men happened to be the only thing that weakened her intuitions. Especially guys like TJ. Ezzie started to strum on the guitar and sing with all her soul. It was a bit more ‘dependant’ compared to Ezzie’s other songs, but she liked it well enough.

“My rockstar beau, rocks it all night long, after every show, he comes and turns me on, my rockstar baby, you complete my soul, promise you'll never leave me, I love your-” Ezzie looked up from her guitar and noticed a slightly older, unique looking Slytherin girl run into the room crying furiously. She sat in a corner of the room, seemingly unaware of Ezzie’s presence. Normally, Ezzie would have ignored the girl completely. But she was in a decently good mood, despite the issues with people assuming things of her. After Sinclair’s horrible article Ezzie wasn’t exactly on too many people’s good sides, especially with the professors, who weren’t too keen on Ezzie to begin with. Ezzie merely looked up. She didn’t know the girl, though judging by her dress she figured it was that Branch, Twig, something or other girl who many people in her house had talked about and even made fun of. Of course, Ezzie had never really joined in. She wasn’t exactly one to gain pleasure out of other people’s pain. Ezzie decided it wasn’t the best idea to get up and directly confront the girl, so she simply spoke to her from her seat. She had a decent enough view, and they weren’t all too far apart anyway. It was a wonder she hadn’t already noticed Ezzie sitting in the corner. “Hey, is everything okay?” Ezzie asked in a worried, slightly confused tone. She didn’t want to offend her by asking, but she didn’t just want to sit there and watch her cry either.

[twiggy]

Her blood practically boiled as she sat on the floor, her back shoved against the corner of the student lounge. Her tears were not from sadness, but anger. She was ready to attack something. Her fists clenched with the want to punch the wall or the chair. She couldn't stop the feeling of complete and utter infuriation. She wanted to do something about it! But what could she do? It wasn't as if any of the other professors would believe her. It wasn't as if, even if they did believe her, they could do anything about it. The damage was done anyway. Gabrielle felt like her whole world was predicted. If that was how people saw her, maybe that was the truth. Maybe she was a no body. Maybe she wouldn't amount to anything in her life. Would she end up like her friend Pat at home? Living in an abandoned building, no job, no life, just so he could do his drugs in peace? Oh he was "living the life" as all the posers would say. What life was that? Was that punk? It was so cool to be dirt poor and begging on the street corner. It was the punk thing to do.

Gabrielle didn't buy that stupid stuff, though. She knew what punk was. It was music. It was all about attitude and how you perceived the world. Live a life that was fun and do what you wanted to do. How could being homeless be something you want? How was that fun? Concerts and drugs shouldn't rule your life. But was that where she was headed? If what the professor said was true, then that was what she was going to end up like. A dead beat.

She felt her head shake and she wanted to punch the wall again. No one understood. No one would ever understand. Suddenly someone's voice broke the silence and she felt her body snap to attention. Her eyes shot around the room until she saw the girl sitting somewhat close to her, but somewhat hidden by a chair. Gabrielle's eyes instantly dried and she stood up, feeling embarrassed.

"Oh..." Gabrielle brushed off her skirt, resolutely brushing her fingers against the patch that caused all her problems for the day, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you... I didn't see you there. I... um... ya... I'll go now."

Her face burned with embarrassment. She never cried in front of anyone. She was stronger than that. She turned to leave, but cursed and turned back to grab her book bag.

[Esmeralda Mendez]

Ezzie’s eyes softened as she placed her guitar and notebook down softly on the table beside her. She didn’t mean to make the girl want to walk away, but if she didn’t want to be bothered Ezzie would have made sure to let her go off and be on her own. But this Twiggy girl didn’t seem to want to be left alone, she almost seemed like she needed someone to talk to, and Ezzie felt compelled to talk to her and see what exactly was troubling her. Ezzie had been through that stage in her life as well, and now that TJ was around, she didn’t feel upset anymore. Ezzie found it almost pathetic that she needed a guy at her side to tell her she was special in order for her to be happy, but that was really just how she functioned. She needed reassurance, she couldn’t believe it herself. It just wasn’t done that way with Ezzie. She was still struggling with the remnants of last years craziness, but it was basically gone, in reality. She was eating again, even if it was only one or two small meals a day. Her friends were still constantly worried for her and her habits, but she really felt like the cause for worrying was pretty far gone. She was fine now, she was happy. Sure she was doing things she never thought she would ever consider, but still, she was happier than she had been since the day Ethan was killed. Surprisingly, Ezzie wasn’t quite so terrified anymore.

The mysterious man who had stalked Ezzie and killed Ethan in an attempt to kill Ezzie was still out there somewhere, probably still plotting. The thought used to haunt Ezzie with every waking moment she lived, but now she simply didn’t care anymore. She didn’t let herself to believe that the man would ever come back, so she just kept on singing and continued to play like nothing ever happened to her. She was reformed now, and she didn’t care what anyone else thought about her. She didn’t care if people denyed the fact that she had changed, for Ezzie believed it with every fiber of her being. Now that she had been blessed with happiness, she felt she had to return the favor, by paying it forward. She figured this older Slytherin girl was the way to do it. It seemed odd that after so much time keeping to herself and staying away from students she didn’t know, she was going to try and throw herself at someone she barely met to try and see what was wrong. She sighed and stepped in front of the girl.

“No, it’s okay. You really don’t have to leave. I just wanted to know if you were alright. The kids around this school can be pretty cruel sometimes, and I really wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I know this is a bit odd to ask since I really don’t know you and all, but do you want to like…talk or something? If you want to be left alone it’s fine. I can leave.” Ezzie said kindly, trying not to say anything offensive to the girl. She realized she was being a bit forward and would probably just get a strong glare for this, but it was worth a try.

((ew. This was really short. Not much inspiration though, hope this is okay. ))

[twiggy]

Gabrielle reached out her hand to grab her book bag, but the girl stood in front of her. She stood up straight, surprised. She wiped at her tear-stained face, hoping to hide the evidence of her break down. The girl wanted to know what happened. She seemed sincere and concerned, but Gabrielle was still unsure and shocked. She wasn't even close to expecting this from a random student. Especially in this school. Tugging at her skirt absentmindedly, Gabrielle regarded the girl with wet eyes. She had the burning need to tell someone how she felt, but wasn't sure if a stranger was the right person to do it. Being so outgoing, her mind instantly said to just do it, the girl wanted to know. However, Gabrielle was feeling vulnerable, and she didn't like to feel that way. It made her feel weak and, even worse, she didn't even know the girl. Gabrielle studied the girl for a good two seconds. She was younger, but not by much, and she was extremely pretty. She was wearing her uniform like any typical student would and Gabrielle noticed her guitar. A songwriter, maybe?

Taking a deep breath, Gabrielle looked straight at the girl and, miraculously didn't even feel the need to cry anymore. Her eyes were dry, but her emotions were still bottled up and bursting to break free. She was sick and tired of it all. Years and years of ridicule and she was finally sick of it. It usually never bothered her, but for some reason, a professor telling her to her face that she was useless, was just something she could not handle. And as much as she wanted to, she felt like she could not open up the girl in front of her. She was too much of a stranger and it was too much of a shock to see someone who cared. Gabrielle felt a wall start to build even as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Look, I don't even know your name and I don't want to bother you with all my drama, because I'm sure you don't need it. Like you said, the kids here can be awful and I don't want to burden you. I don't want to burden anyone."

She smiled apologetically and slung her book bag over her shoulder.

[Mrs Norris]

She really hated leaving the warmth of her room. She really did. But she had to go. It was the time of day that the bald headed man expected her to do a sweep of the castle. Mrs Norris usually found nothing wrong this time of day. Most of the first through fifth years were in class and if the sixth and seventh years were not to be found in class they were cooped up in their common rooms finishing last minute projects and studying for exams. The most she ever found was Peeves. He was bored out of his mind this time of day and always liked to try and drop rotten eggs on her tail. One day he actually hit her and the bald headed man refused to let her into their room until he had given her a bath. Mrs Norris had never been so humiliated in her life! Having a human give her a bath was the worst thing that could have happened to her.

Her soft paws made no noise of the hard stone as she made her way down one corridor and then the next. Like she first suspected, the corridors were practically empty. The portraits watched her saunter by in silence. They had long since given up talking to her. She didn't understand what they were trying to say and she didn't have time to stop and chat with a picture. There were places to be and students to save from themselves. Just then she passed by the Student Lounge. She expected it to be empty so she was going to pass right by and return to her chair in front of the fire. But she heard voices as she passed. Of course she could not discern what they were saying but it was definitely voices. She stopped in her tracks and back tracked to the wide open door to the lounge. She looked up at the frame before entering a little into the room.

What she saw was of great interest. Two girls were in there. It was class time so they were breaking the rules. Secondly, one of the students was clearly not in dress code. She wore a skirt and knee-high socks. Mrs Norris had to resist the kitten within that desperately wanted to play with them. Maybe a little tear? No! Mrs Norris looked around the out-of-code student to the other girl. She seemed to be awful comfortable hugging some sort of musical instrument. Why weren't these two in class? They might have been old enough to be sixth years but that did not excuse the girl with blonde hair to be out of dress code. Without making a sound and hoping that neither girl had seen her she made a one-eighty and left the room. She had to find the bald headed man. He would know what to do.