Compartment Compadres PV! Closed

The young Hufflepuff gripped her luggage in her small hand, being shoved around by different kids as they scrambled into the train. She huffed, her eyebrows furrowed. Rosie was already annoyed at the train ride hadn't even started yet. But Rosie couldn't blame them, the faster they went on the train, the quicker they could get home and see their families! Maybe some of the kids were excited to get back to their mansions with their butlers and fancy food that tasted worse than how it looked. Personally, Rosie wasn't as excited about coming home. Especially with her new step-father lounging around the house. She wasn't mad at her father anymore, but Rosie made no promises to herself that she'd be nice to this stranger.

Rosie pushed through a few more kids, her curly hair hitting some of their faces. Her long hair wasn't exactly tamed, and it didn't make many people happy. That was clear when someone pushed Rosie forward after she accidentally smacked them in the face with her hair. "Sorry!" Rosie called, stumbling.

"I can't wait to go back home, can't you?"

"Yeah, I miss being served in bed."

"You're so lazy, Nick."

Rosie couldn't care less about the other conversations going on, but little did she know, she had to be stuck listening to them as she waited for her turn to hop on the train. She sighed and rubbed her temples. Just a few more steps, Rosie. Then you can join your frien-

Her friends! She completely forgot! Rosie was sitting in a compartment with her friends! She had no doubt they'd save her a seat. With that thought in mind, Rosie grinned, a lot more excited. She was hoping they'd talk about their year, what happened, their plans for the summer and the year after. Maybe Rosie could meet up with some of them over the summer! Though, most of Rosie's friends were pure bloods, which meant their families probably didn't like mudbloods all that much. No matter, Rosie didn't really care what old people thought about her. Maybe if their skin wasn't so wrinkly they wouldn't have a problem with muggles, but hey, that was none of Rosie's business.

Finally, finally, Rosie was able to hop on the train. "Heck.." She mumbled, walking down the hallway to the compartment with any sign of her friends in it. Finally, she let out a quiet sigh of relief when she saw a door cracked open. Rosie smiled and reached the door, pushing it open a bit and poking her head inside, seeing Eris. "There you are! I was beginning to think I'd never get in the train, people kept pushing me and stuff." She complained, sitting down across from her in the seat closest to the window. She set down her luggage and brought her knees to her chest, smiling. "Are you excited to go home? I can't help but be a little sad I won't see you guys all summer."

There was an incredible amount to think about at the end of the school year. For the last week, the campground had been filled with the excited ramblings of students making plans for the summertime, detailing vacation spots across the continent and hurriedly scribbling down addresses before it was too late. The first-year class had entered the great Scottish castle as strangers in a strange land, lost in the daunting schedules, schoolwork, and staircases. At the end of July, however, they exited one step closer to being champions of the academic arena. Armed with a novice knowledge of transfiguration, magical defense, and potion-brewing -- not to mention the more theoretical practices of magical history and astronomy -- Adam felt that he could take on the world.

Leaving the school had turned out to be harder than Adam had imagined it would. As he had stood in his cabin, he'd been hit with a wave of premature nostalgia. Stories of Hogwarts' primary year were always imbued with a sentimentality that the student hadn't predicted. Adam had never dreaded or feared his arrival at the castle, but he had always thought of it as nothing more than an upgraded high school. Attending for himself had opened his eyes to what lay behind Hogwarts' scholarly reputation: an entire life that had been waiting for Adam to come of age and experience. In ten months, he'd made friends with some of the most dynamic people he'd ever met, seen feats that he'd previously thought to be impossible, and worked harder than he had in the past ten years combined. Add in the extra month of activity that had been the Hogwarts Summer Camp, and Adam was thoroughly spent. It was an exhausting mental and social gauntlet of an education -- but he would gladly repeat the process come September.

Of course, Adam wouldn't have to wait to return to Hogwarts if he missed the train. Simultaneously attempting to push his way through a crowd of eleven-year-olds and stay out of the other passengers' ways, the boy was starting to believe that it would be a miracle if he got on the Hogwarts Express at all. Surely there was enough room for everyone, wasn't there? They wouldn't leave anyone behind....would they? Determined not to find out, Adam summoned an extra surge of strength and hauled his suitcase up the metal stairs onto the train car, finding himself wishing that he hadn't packed so much stuff with him when he had left his house at Christmas time. It would be a pain to drag the luggage behind him while he searched for a compartment. Taking a deep breath, the boy hefted his bag up off of the carpeted floor and started off across the train car.

It was easy to let his mind wander as he passed compartment after compartment. Student voices rang in his ears like white noise as the open doors came and went, one describing a new summer home, one talking about an African vacation sometime in August, and plenty complaining about the professors that they wouldn't have to see again until September. In one crowded room, Compartment 18, Adam listened to what could only be a group of seventh years as they talked about where they could get jobs or who had probably gotten the best N.E.W.T. scores. He wondered if this would be he and his friends six years from now. He and Eris would certainly still be close, and he hoped that Rosie and Anatole would continue to be by his side. The future was confusing to think about, but Adam was optimistic.

It wasn't until he reached Compartment Ten that the boy returned to the real world, woken by the sight of two of the friends he'd just been wondering about. Rosie Parker and Eris Fawley had made themselves comfortable against the window looking out over Hogsmeade Station, and seeing them brought a smile to his face. Next to the pair was the brown-haired Hufflepuff boy that Adam remembered in passing from the impromptu Great Snowball Fight of March, Reid Kovacs. It was a pleasant surprise to find them all in one place, and Adam greeted them excitedly as he sat down next to Eris, looking across at the other two happily. "Hey! I'm so glad I found you guys. It's madness out there."

Setting his suitcase under the comfortable chair he'd chosen, Adam took a minute to catch his breath and run a hand through his hair, realizing that he hadn't had much time to make himself look presentable in the morning before he'd departed the Cabin of the Hippogriff and set out for the train station. Grinning at his friends in what probably looked like a very foolish manner, he settled back in his chair and began to anticipate the long ride back to King's Cross. He'd be excited to share it with these three, and whoever else happened upon the residents of Compartment Ten.

Serena looked back over her shoulder, taking the view in for one of the last times. As her eyes scanned the area, her mind wandered. Her posture was a very literal action for her mind that was looking back on the last year. So much had happened. She did not even know where to begin. Things that she never even dreamed of happened. Things that she never expected had happened. 

The Towers daughter expected to attend the school and get sorted into a completely different house. In fact, any house except Hufflepuff would have been ideal for her mother. But it was just not meant to be. She had never expected to be made a Prefect, especially not in her first year and that was a pleasant surprise that threw her entirely. It changed her. She felt more responsible, she tried to be more mature or kinder, she simply tried to be a better person to fill the shoes of a Prefect even though she did not feel like she was good enough to be one.

It had certainly been a long year. Serena had even stayed for the Summer Camp, spending every day since September first till the end of July in this beautiful castle that she now called 'Home'. It was not her real house, of course. Her house was where she was headed to now - back in London. But this castle was not merely a pile of rocks for her. It was home. The people she met weren't just her friends. They were her family. 

As she observed the area, she knew one thing: she belonged here. Not in London, not in the Towers mansion, not in any number of galas or balls that her family forced her to attend. She hated having to dress up, constantly smile and make polite conversation when you just wanted to ignore everyone at the party. That was her mother's hobby, not hers. Serena loved feeling the wind in her hair as she flew across the sky, even if it was not 'ladylike'. She really wanted to play Quidditch, despite the fact she knew her mother would not approve. She had friends that were not purebloods - and truthfully, some of them were probably a lot closer and dearer to her than a few of those 'pure' ones.

With a sad smile on her face, she turned back towards the train and continued to dragged her trunk towards it. A lot certainly had changed but her body strength was not one of them. Oof, this trunk was heavy. Her aching arms managed to get it onto the Hogwarts Express. With a rucksack on her back and the trunk being dragged in her noodle arms, Serena pulled her stuff through the train. She had no idea where everyone had disappeared of to. Before leaving, she had a few final bits of work to finish off. Prefect reports that she wanted to make sure she did - because that was perhaps the only thing she dedicated her all to now. By the time she had managed to do that, her friends appeared to have scattered and made the way onto the trains themselves. 

Serena slid open the door of random compartments as she passed them, "Oh, sorry," Every time making a quick apology and then backing out as she was greeted by several confused looks from random strangers. Eventually, she slid open the next door - starting to lose hope of finding any familiar faces. Luckily, she wrong. Compartment number ten was different. Her eyes fell onto two Hufflepuffs that she instantly recognised, causing her face to lit up into a massive grin. From the angle she was standing at, she could see Reid closest to the door and Rosie by the window. "Hey guys! You okay?" She started as she turned to tug her luggage so she could fit it through the door. They were close enough friends for her to barge in without asking them if they minded for her to join them - they had no choice in the matter! "Reid, I have a wand to pick with you!" She started, meaning she had a 'bone' to pick with him, "I can't believe you didn't tell me about last week-" She continued, meaning his birthday. It had passed by not too long before, under two weeks ago. Serena only found out about the fact that she had completely missed her friend's birthday recently.

The Hufflepuff pulled her case into the Compartment after her, as she stepped forward whilst talking. It was only then that she noticed the other people in the room, "Ah- Hey- Woah, I love your hair-" Her voice was excited. Her eyes took in the familiar face of Eris, though her hair was very different and Adam, who she had met a few times but did not know super well. Before she could continued, however, her eyes fell onto the fifth person in the cabin, "Oh. Hello." She replied after a brief moment, nodding curtly towards Phaedra. What was she doing in the same cabin as several people she would refer to as mudbloods? It baffled her but Serena did not say anything. At this point, it was far too late to leave without it being awkward. Instead, she shoved her trunk under the seat and sat down next to Reid - right opposite the pureblooded Ravenclaw girl. 

This was going to be awkward. It was a strange mix of people. Rosie, the Quidditch loving Hufflepuff that she did not know well but would love to know better. Reid, the friend who saved her life and was perhaps closest to out of the group. Eris, the friend who has shared some interesting moments and currently has fantastic hair. Adam, the fellow Prefect who she had practicing ballroom dancing with and was apparently snowball teammates with. And Phaedra, the girl she knew from childhood who she was pretty sure would hate the Hufflepuff bench sitting opposite her.

Oh, this was going to be a very long and awkward train journey. Trying to shake it out of her head, Serena rooted through the rucksack that she had dumped next to her when she sat down and pulled out a little package. It was wrapped incredibly neatly but the design of the paper was one that Reid would recognise: they were old copies of the Hufflepost - their house newspaper. They had a few prints with errors and spelling mistakes on them. Instead of throwing them away, Serena decided to wrap a little gift into them. She would have tried to purchase the beautiful wrapping paper she had seen before - with moving images. But as someone had decided not to tell her about his birthday, she had not had the time to buy something better. A rushed trip to Hogsmeade gave her this. "Here," She held out the package, pushing it into his arms, "Sorry for the delay but happy belated birthday, Reid," She continued, "I'm not sure if you'll like this but I heard you talking about Norse mythology a while back so... yeah..." She replied, which she assumed explained the gift perfectly. It did to her, anyway. A while back, Serena had heard him talking about Thor - who was a god in Norse mythology. Well apparently he liked these...

Turning back to the rest of the group, she rummaged through her bag again. It looked small but she could fit a lot more into it than you would think. It was as though her family was one of magic! Pulling out a small bag, she opened it up and held it open for everyone, "Would anyone like one?" She offered the group. Although they may not notice a difference, Serena's demeanour changed a little as she addressed the group. She was being slightly more polite than she normally would have, with Phaedra around. Her voice was a bit more curt and lacked a little enthuasism that her friends were normally used to. She could not exactly go 'hey, you want one?' to Phaedra, after all. The bag contained a variety of sweets and chocolate products. It was as though she had half of Honeydukes in it - which she may well have done! She did love her Honeydukes, after all.

OOC NOTES:
[ Reid - check your trunk to see the exact item... xD ]
[ Everyone - if you take anything from the sweet bag, list specific items from honeydukes please!]

Home. Everyone was talking about it - about going back the places they'd grown up in to the people they'd grown up with to show off what they'd learned. Some of the kids he passed were giggling about using spells on younger siblings, others were loudly bragging about how opulent the houses they were returning to were as they waved steam away from their eyes. It seemed like a sort of excitement hung in the air like a fruit waiting to be picked, with only a touch of restless melancholy underneath. Hogwarts was cool but the homework sucked, after all. There was no homework at home, so wouldn't it be nice to have a break for a few months?

Max lugged his trunk as best he could, navigating the crowd with glares and harsh snaps that belied the bleakness of his mood. When he'd first come to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he'd been an exemplary Avery stereotype; cruel to mudbloods, sharp-witted, cold. What had changed and why it had he wasn't sure, but the thought of taking his new self home put a terror within him that he couldn't quite fathom.

He could hide it, right? The more developed love of mischief, the warmth he felt towards the people he now considered good friends, the waning interest in bloodlines? He'd sure as hell hidden worse things from his parents, so he should be alright. But an entire year of freedom from the oppressive air and constant walking on eggshells had changed something in him that he didn't dare examine. The realization was only hitting now; that he'd been sleeping through entire nights with, if not complete safety, at least a modicum of comfort since the masked kid hadn't gotten into the Gryff dorms. That wasn't something he could do at 'home'. And with his uncle, that dead-eyed man with the flat Chesire-cat smirk...

A shiver distracted him for long enough that he bumped shoulders with a shorter kid. It took less than a second for his fist to be curled in the kid's robes, using what little strength he had to heft the kid onto his toes as he arched a brow. "What kind of barn did you grow up in?" he asked, his voice distinctly humorless despite his grin. "The one where they keep all the manure? Because not only do you have the manners of cow shit, but you stink like mudblood too." It didn't take that significant of a pause for the kid to blubber out an apology, looking absolutely shocked that this was something that would happen now. Max was tempted to hit him, slug him in the face for no reason other than bumping shoulders. With a low scoff, he shoved the kid hard enough to put him on the ground and climbed the steps of the train without looking back.

Jesus. The thought of them still did that to him; maybe he'd be alright when he went home after all. Maybe it was the kindness that was just a phase, and when the tension settled back into his shoulders, he'd be the same person he always was. His grip going white-knuckled on his trunk, he tried to remember through a haze of sudden identity confusion which compartment Eris had said. His head felt so foggy as he passed by numbers that he almost missed it, his attention only being caught by the familiar voice of Serena Towers. Taking four steps backwards, he'd peered into the small, boxy space to see the people he'd been looking for.

"Hey, guys," he greeted, or at least tried to. His voice caught in his throat for the briefest second at some stupid emotion that hit him. He didn't need those. Emotions. They were disgusting and always ended poorly, so it was ridiculous that seeing a bunch of familiar faces suddenly eased what felt like a fist around his heart and a rock in his stomach. Eris, with her spunkiness, toughness, and apparently a new, cool summer hairstyle. Rosie, who he'd bullied for months but... well, he'd never admit it to anyone, but he kind of liked her optimism now. Phaedra, whose quiet brilliance and logic he'd come to respect the hell out of. Serena, who was so incredibly kind for a pure-blood that it was crazy... Even Adam was alright despite the tension they'd once had - he was responsible, at least. And that Kovacs kid who always gave him a feeling of foreboding since the Hippogriff incident made him snicker slightly now after that whole thing with the spider in Charms class. All in all, it wasn't a bad compartment. Not at all.

Clearing his throat with a polite cough like he'd just gotten some saliva stuck, he picked out a seat close to the door and finally let his trunk drop, toeing it under the chair as he sat down with a hint of a real smile. It felt like the proverbial last supper, as if after this train ride he'd never come back again. So he may as well enjoy this moment with every fibre of his being. "Interesting assortment of people we have here." He still wasn't sure how to address Rosie or Adam - and he didn't really know Reid - but it was time to make a real attempt using all the social skills that had been drilled into him since he was a child. "Uh... how was everyone's year?"

Summer was a strange affair. Most children dreamed of summer all year long, but when a person was faced with the daunting expanse of time, devoid of friends to spend everyday with, there was a strange emptiness that filled the void where homework and extracurricular activities used to dwell, always nagging at the corner of the mind like a constant itch. Eris’s mind was already blissfully blank, eyes flicking towards the window, and the roaring of the crowd outside, marching along like elephants in a herd, destroying everything in their wake merrily.

Eris knew she was one of their number, but she felt so far away from the other children. There was no class of first years, not anymore. From the moment the end of term feast had ended, there was a chill erupting over her skin. She wasn’t a first year anymore, she was a second year soon. This would be the first, and the last year, that there was no new class of first years for Eris to stare down on. When she was older, there would be younger children to look down on, but she was one of the youngest of the youngest year.

Sighing, Eris’s melancholy thoughts were ruined by the eccentric arrival of Rosie Parker, a girl who Eris had grown to love. They had their differences, their fights, and their childish dramatics, but there was nobody kinder and more eccentric than Rosie Parker. Turning to face the curly haired girl with a beam on her face, which Eris personally thought looked strange, especially with the red and gold hair, that Eris knew looked out of place on her pale face.

“Hey Rosie!” Eris greeted, watching Rosie plop herself down in the seat on the other side of Eris. Grin making it’s way to the corners of her pursed lips, turning into a radiant smile, almost as radiant as Rosie herself. How lucky was Eris, to have a friend who was so kind and caring? Very lucky indeed, and Eris had learned to cherish and respect that, after neglecting Rosie’s friendship for such a long time. She wasn’t doing anything bad now, though! Seasons changed, and so did people.

If winter was bitter and cold, summer was the time to be friendly and nice, full of love and life, which was what Eris felt, along with the sweet stain of nostalgia. “I don’t know, I’m really scared to meet my family, after all these years. I’ve heard that pureblood parents are crazy, but what do I know?” Eris laughed, shoving down the bitter nervousness that crawled around in her stomach, like spiders. Most people compared anxiety to butterflies, but this felt like spiders, gnawing away at the insides of Eris’s stomach.

Before Eris could open her mouth to say another word, Reid appeared in the house, clothing and hair rumpled. What had he been up to? Reid didn’t seem like the kind of person to get into a fight, and Eris waved off his comment about not wanting to intrude. “The more the merrier, even if you have strange tastes in comic book characters.” Eris sat for a moment, content with the two hufflepuffs for company.

Most hufflepuffs were bad, which was something Eris had learned from Max, who clearly knew best. In Eris’s naive, childlike mind, Max was an idol, along with Dorian and the other children of the school who had taken Eris under their murderous little wings. The young girl was grateful for the friendship, even if most of the student body could agree that Max Avery, Dorian Gray, and Eris Fawley were the most dangerous friend group, and that it was a disaster in the making, just having the three trouble making idiots in the same room.

Were they really idiots? One could never tell, not with the raging hormones and strangeness of adolescence, and all that would accompany that in the years to come. Max had a nice side, Dorian had a nerd side, and Eris...was Eris.

There were other friends that had accompanied Eris’s school year and one of them was Adam! Somehow, the first friendship Eris had ever made was still going strong, and seeing the face of the person who had first seen Eris as a person, and not just a streetrat, or a strange sister, caused Eris to beam. Every time she saw Adam, she felt herself beaming. She couldn’t help but feel grateful, considering the fact that he had stayed with her. Nobody had ever stuck by Eris’s side, but Adam had. Would Max, Reid, Rosie, and all her other friends stick around? Maybe, maybe not. It didn’t matter, but Adam had proven that he was going to stay.

That was all that mattered, as Eris started to leap to her feet, but stopped. Remembering where she was, and who she was, Eris just waved. “Hi Adam! Thank god you’re here! I couldn’t go another minute without my best friend! Where are Dean and Sydney, anyways?” Eris chattered from her seat, kicking her feet back and forth.

She was short enough that her feet didn’t touch the floor, and they swayed back and forth in their own maelstrom, afloat in their own hurricane. Eris was content, sitting on her chair. Eris was a child through and through, and there was nothing more calming than kicking her legs. Some children prefered to shake their legs or fidget their hands, but Eris had always liked to kick her legs. The feeling of weightlessness also reminded Eris of flying, which was one of the things she valued above all else.

Phaedra walked in, and Eris’s feet stopped kicking, and she raised an eyebrow, before a grin spread across her whole face, seeing the person. Eris and Phaedra hadn’t been close friends for the whole year, but Eris adored the girl. She was smart, beautiful, and the kind of person that Eris would love to be..if she was a 5’2 midget with anger issues.

“Phae! Welcome! It’s so great to have you in here. Now it’s a real party.”

Eris started to beam again, before Serena walked into the room, talking only to Reid. At once, Eris felt hurt, then confused, than unsettled. Phaedra did not look happy, Serena commented on Eris’s hair, Eris nodded, and there was an air of tension that Eris wished Rhea was around to fix. Finally, clearing her throat, Eris laughed.

“Reid and Norse Mythology? He’s obsessed with Thor, next thing you know he’ll be wanting to marry Loki, or something like that.” Eris laughed, trying to ease the tension, as she sunk down into her chair, perking up at the mention of candy.

Without even saying anything, Eris flung herself off her chair and closer to Serena, letting out a squeal as she studied the bag of sweets with a delighted expression. “CANDY! Oh, I just love candy! It’s so great, what do you have? Oh can I have one of everything!? Oh please! If not, do you have any chocolate frogs? Those are so good!”

Eris, about to yank the bag out of Serena’s hands and run away to eat her candy in peace, looked up to see Max come in. “Max! About time, where have you been? I-”

Eris paused her rifling through the candy bag, frowning up at Max. He seemed..off. A little more guttural and withdrawn than the friend she had grown to know. Just like Serena had been a bit strange, Max was stranger, and Eris could pick up on that from spending a year with Max, stuck in the same Common Room and same House.

Her silent frown was enough, anyways. Max was a smart kid, he could tell what Eris was thinking, couldn’t he? Oh dear, this was a lot of people for one compartment. Hopefully things would go right! There really was a large assortment of people in the compartment but every single one of them was unique and amazing, in their own way. Whether or not a compartment could survive all of them was up to the train.

"How was our year? What kind of question is that?" Eris grinned, clearly teasing, as she chose to answer a few moments later. "Very scholarly, I did nothing wrong, whatsoever. Was an honor student, totally."

Rosie only had one hope in mind, and it was that she didn't mess up the last few hours of her first year. She had been doing pretty well in terms of behavior, and only had a little to go until she arrived home. All she had to do was talk to her friends for a while, say her goodbyes, and leave the train. That's all she had to do. But for some reason, she was very nervous about the whole trip home. Something was off, telling her that something might go wrong. Though, Rosie felt like this often, and most of the time, nothing actually happened.

But Eris made sure Rosie was fine, even if unintentional. She brought up the topic of her pure blooded family and she shrugged in response. "I dunno, I wouldn't know about them, obviously. But I'm sure since you turned out to be so good, they should be great!" She poked up her thumbs, smiling reassuringly at Eris.

After hearing some shuffling, Rosie turned her head towards the entrance to the compartment, seeing no one other than the boy who showed up at her birthday party back in April. He was a cutie, with a soft smile that made Rosie smile in return. She had seen him in her house a few times, Rosie just hoped next year she'd be able to talk to him more. She smiled at him when he sat next to her, "I think he has a lovely taste in comic books, considering what he got me for my birthday." Rosie commented, leaning back against the seat.

Next to arrive, was Adam. He was one of Rosie's most lively friends. She had a few cloud gazing experiences with the dude and they all proved to have a positive outcome. Rosie waved when he walked inside. "It is pretty chaotic out there, I'm glad you ended up safe here." Rosie followed her eyes to where Adam was sitting, swinging her legs off the edge of the seat. They seemed to have a good bunch of people to sit with so far, what could go wrong? Rosie heard someone approaching, turning her head once again.

And in came Ravenclaw Prefect, otherwise known as Phae, from what Eris had said. As usual, she looked graceful. Rosie had spotted her a few times during the year, and she just screamed 'professional'. She was really pretty, but that was besides the point. It was just a general observation since Rosie knew nothing about her. She seemed nice enough, and waved when she greeted everyone. "Hey, Phae, right? Maybe we can have a full conversation on our ride home." She joked, leaning against the window again. Rosie had almost started leaning against Reid a few times, since she liked using people's shoulders as pillows, but she didn't know the dude all that well yet. Maybe another time.

It looked like someone else was coming, and Rosie turned to the door. Her heart almost came up her throat, and her stomach was filled with butterflies. Serena Towers had just made her way through the door, with same, pretty, nervous smile. Okay, Rosie. Stay calm. She smiled her way, crossing her legs and resting her elbows on them. Serena had decided to sit on the same side as them, which she didn't mind. She leaned forward so she could get a better look at her. "Hi Serena! I'm alright, how are you?" She asked. That was great, Rosie! Your voice didn't crack once! You're a genius, Parker. Her eyes fell on the sweets as Serena offered them, but Rosie shook her head. "No thank you, I already ate. Thank you though." She cringed at herself internally. You said thank you twice, you idiot! Rosie smiled nervously again before her eyes fell to the door, and her heart dropped.

Max Avery had arrived.

Don't get her wrong, Rosie didn't dislike him. In fact, they had become friends during the last part of the school year. But some of the things he said to her... She couldn't shake out of her head. Worthlesworthlessworthlesswor-

"My year was good," Rosie said suddenly after he asked, moving her thoughts away, "you okay Max? You seem a little off. M-Maybe I'm wrong though." She said the last sentence a bit quickly. She wasn't scared of him, right? No way. no how.