Strawberries PV Closed

'Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.' Everyone said that, yet rarely anyone practiced it. Most students preferred to skip it, in favor of completing forgotten homework. Rhea was one of those students, to her dismay. She always meant to do her homework the night before, she just never did. 

It was because of this bad habit that she found herself rushing to the Great Hall, deciding to eat and do her homework at the same time. Her appearance was... not the best. Due to her time management skills, or lack thereof, Rhea had found herself staying up late, doing her homework assignments. It was only last night that she'd decided to take a nap at 7 pm, but found herself not waking up from her nap and just... sleeping until the next morning. Because of this, she'd forgotten to do her homework assignment, and was now rushing to get it done. Although her appearance would normally be on her list of things to prioritize, right now she didn't particularly care. For once, she was thankful that they had a specific uniform to wear - she wouldn't have to spend any time looking for something appropriate to wear. However, she had no time to style her hair, and therefore left it looking like a bloody bird's nest. 

Taking a deep breath as she sat down, Rhea tried to calm herself down. She set up her book and parchment to her right side, out her plate filled with food to the left, and began her assignment. Wracking her brain for what could possibly be the answer, Rhea bit into a muffin and chewed, making sure not to get any crumbs on her parchment. 

Slowly, she moved through her homework. She would have preferred to get it done faster, but the questions were difficult and required a lot of thinking, as well as having a lot of writing. But soon, she found herself on the last question. As she did, she looked up and saw that the girl next to her was drenching her food with syrup, and the delicious smell wafted over to her. Craving for a pancake now, Rhea grabbed her plate and filled it with two, before deciding to ask for the syrup from the girl. She would have just reached for it, but the girl had placed on the side farthest to her. Inconvenient, but it didn't really phase the young redhead.

"Can I have the syrup, please?" Rhea asked the girl, extending her hand. The girl didn't do anything, and Rhea thought she simply hadn't heard her over the loud chatter in the Great Hall (although it really wasn't that loud, seeing as it was early morning, and she was sitting right next to the girl). She poked the girl's shoulder and asked again before the girl could turn around. "Can I have the syrup, please?" Rhea repeated. She feared the pancakes would get cold before she managed to eat them, and she just wanted the blasted syrup.

The table started to fill up around Kalani, but she didn't look up or take much notice. She could feel that there were people sitting down beside her, but she was way more concerned with her own plate. She took full advantage of such a massive buffet. At some point in the meal she'd started wanting fruit, so now there was a small forest around the bottom of the stack of pancakes. She'd managed to grab a cup of coffee as well, but it was no where near as good at her mom's when it was black, so she added milk and sugar until it barely tasted of coffee at all. If she hadn't been so excited about her meal, she might have caught the girl beside her gesturing to the syrup.

She felt something tap on her back. She turned to look at the person that had tapped her, being the girl next to her. Kalani recognised her as another first year, and the two had similar short hairstyles, but that's where the similarities ended. The girl had beautiful, fiery ginger hair, and blue eyes that were really difficult not to notice. She was taller than Kalani by a couple inches, so she tilted her head up to meet the girls eyes. The red-haired girl was also part of the majority of students that were super tired, and doing homework. Much more important than all that though was that the girl had definitely said something and Kalani had missed it.

Kalani studied her face for a second, trying to figure out what she'd asked for. Could have been anything: help with her homework, for food to be passed, just striking up a conversation. She looked a little grouchy (or maybe just tired?) and Kalani felt like she had to tread lightly, or get off on a bad start with another Gryffindor. Or maybe she was just thinking too hard.

Grabbing the left sleeve of her cloak, Kalani pulled the sleeve up until it caught on her shoulder. Her white shirt underneath ended at her elbow, showing off her forearm that was covered around halfway up with bracelets. She held her arm out to the girl, spinning the bottommost one around until the words on it were clearly visible. 'I AM DEAF', it clarified. Kalani smiled nervously, and gestured for the red-haired girl to repeat what she said, rolling her hand at the wrist.

Waiting patiently for the girl to turn around, Rhea looked at the stack of food that was on her plate. So many, and a mixture of everything - a variety with fruits alongside some pancakes made for a very big meal. Before Hogwarts, Rhea would have been aghast to imagine that one would be able to eat this much food; now, not so much. She herself had gotten used to eating a lot, now that her mother wasn't here to scold for not acting like a proper lady.

Tucking an unbrushed strand of hair behind her ear, Rhea tilted her head and watched as the short-haired girl slowly turned around. Tilting her head and waiting for the syrup, Rhea felt her foot start to shake under the table - a habit she'd recently picked up, ever since she started falling asleep later and waking up earlier. What was taking her so long. Rhea didn't want to strike up a conversation or anything; she just wanted the syrup. Normally, she wouldn't have minded some small conversation during breakfast, but the time was slowly nearing 8 and it was almost time for classes. And Rhea still hadn't received the syrup. If it took the girl too long, maybe she would have to simply eat her meal without it? Yes, that seemed to be the case, and Rhea was about to do that when-

A movement from the girl caught her attention. The raven-haired beauty was rolling up the sleeves of her too big robe sleeves, and Rhea, once again, tilted her head and watched as a variety of bracelets started to make themselves being seen. They stretched all the way up to the girl's wrist, and the Gryffindor's eyes widened with surprised as she noticed what was written on them. One in particular stood out, one that the girl brought Rhea's attention to. With a start, Rhea read what was written on it and her eyes widened to almost comical proportions. 

'I AM DEAF,' written in big letters, could be seen printed on the bracelet. Deaf? Wasn't that something that only old ladies had? At least, from Rhea's experience. The only reason Rhea did, in fact, know what deaf meant was because it was the 'disease' that her grandmother had 'contracted' the few weeks before she'd passed away. Her mother, when she'd learned about her mother's so-called illness, had forbidden Rhea to go see or talk her. "You'll contract the disease, too, and you don't want that, right?" Morgan had warned her daughter, and Rhea immediately shook her head. She thought that deafness was the reason her grandmother died. 

And that was her first and only experience with deafness.

An eyebrow raised, Rhea pondered on her mother's words now. This girl didn't seem like she was sick or anything, but maybe that was the trick? Did this girl even know that she was soon going to die because of deafness? Eyes wide, Rhea was about to tell her about the dangers when she remembered that she wouldn't be able to hear her. How was she to inform her of the dangers, then? How was anyone to have a conversation with her. 

Soon, she realized that the girl was gesturing, and Rhea took it as an invitation to repeat her question. Maybe now that the other Gryffindor was aware of her existence, she'd be able to hear her? Would she have to talk louder? Slower maybe? Deciding to do a mixture of both, Rhea repeated her question for the third time: "Could...you... pass... me... the... syrup... please?" By the end of her question, Rhea was almost yelling at the top of her lungs, but not quite, because they were still in a public area. Hoping that the girl had caught her question this time, Rhea scooted a little bit away, remembering that this girl was sick and was going to die soon! 

"My... name... is... Rhea... Bishop... by the way," Rhea continued, her tone still loud and slow. She didn't know if it was helping the girl by any chance, but she continued anyway. Did the girl need a break to understand her? Rhea remembered her mother telling her that to talk to a deaf person, you had to talk slow, loud and clear. Rhea had followed these direction up until when her mother forbade her from seeing her grandmother. Not knowing what else to add, Rhea took a bundle of grapes and started munching on them, juice dripping down her chin, but she didn't pay any mind, because she was too worried about this girl, who was deaf, and who was going to die, and bloody hell she was talking to an almost dead person!

Of all the responses to being deaf, speaking slowly was usually the most common one. Kalani liked it; it was easier for her to read the lips of someone that was talking slow, and it also meant that the person was nice enough to at least try and talk with her. She looked over to the side where she'd left the syrup and nodded happily. She reached over with both hands to move the syrup boat towards the red-haired girl. She put it down by the girl's plate, keeping her hands free even though the girl probably didn't know sign language.

She turned her eyes back to the girl's lips to catch her name. 'Ree-ah Bish-op'. Well it could have been Bish-op, Pish-op or Mish-op, but Bishop was definitely the most likely. Rhea was a strange name, and Kalani wondered for a second if she'd misread. It could have been Rena, but 'na' made your lower lip move down more, while 'ah' almost made your lips go outwards, towards your cheeks. She couldn't think of any other names it could be...

Deciding not to think too hard on what her name was - it's not like she'd be saying it anytime soon - she dropped the discussion in her head and moved onto herself, instead. Her sleeve was still rolled up by her shoulder, so she easily picked out another bracelet, and pointed towards it. On the beads, which were all different shades of pink, 'KALANI ANDERSON' was printed in neat block capitals, in black Sharpie. With that, she rolled her shoulders so that her sleeve fell back over her arm, hiding the rest of her bracelets from view. She noticed that the girl was maybe a little bit farther away from her than before, but didn't pay much attention to it. She went to her plate of food, shoving a strawberry as big as a hamster into her mouth. Looking back at Rhea now, she looked anxious, and maybe a little wary of Kalani. Kalani tilted her head, raised an eyebrow and gave a thumbs up to Rhea, trying to ask if she was alright.

As she spoke, Rhea felt the other girl looking at her lips, presumably to understand what she was saying. It was how people who couldn't hear understood what other people said, no? Thinking that she was right, Rhea made a note to herself to remember to speak slower than usual whenever she talked to this mysterious girl. It might take a lot of effort, sure; but Rhea was not one to be cruel to anyone, especially by making a point not to talk to them. It was in her parents' blood, yes, but not in Rhea's. She'd long been taught not to be especially cruel to anyone... unless they deserved it, that is.

Soon, when it seemed the girl had caught onto what Rhea was trying to say, the syrup was placed into her near vicinity, and the pancakes on her plate drowned with it. Rhea was one of those few who preferred the syrup drenched pancakes (so drenched they were almost soggy, but not yet, otherwise they would be bad). Some would call it disgusting, she called it delicious. It was because of her love for syrup that she was so adamant about getting the syrup back, otherwise she would have simply gotten the hint that the girl didn't want to talk. 

Speaking of the girl, she was once again raising the sleeves of her robes to showcase another one of her bracelets. Why this time? Her eyes narrowing in on the bracelet the girl was individualizing from the rest. In some sort of dark ink, on top of various shades of pink, the words 'KALANI ANDERSON' were written on each of the blocks that made up the bracelet. Realizing that that must be the name of the girl, Rhea grinned at her. Kalani was such a pretty, exotic name. She didn't think it was British or any sort of European name, although Anderson might have been. Deciding not to focus on the precisions of the girl's name (names were never really her interest, preferring to get to know the person rather than focus on their names), Rhea scooted back towards Kalani with a grin. The other girl seemed concerned, giving two thumbs up as if questioning why Rhea was acting so weird. Sighing, Rhea decided to give a thumbs back to convey the fact that she was okay. She couldn't be too terribly in danger, seeing as otherwise, her parents wouldn't have sent her to Hogwarts...

Right?

Believing so, Rhea continued the conversation, deciding to focus on the meal they were having, for lack of a better conversation topic (besides, food was good, and it was a safe enough topic to talk about, right)? Especially since this girl seemed to be gulping down strawberry after strawberry. Rhea managed to keep in her laugh as she bit into a pancake when she saw Kalani take a bite of a huge strawberry. "You... must... be... hungry!" Rhea said, laughing. Her words were slow and clear, just the way she was speaking before. Rhea made sure Kalani would see her lips, and kept going when she made sure the black haired girl could. "Bloody hell... And I thought... I loved... strawberries!" Rhea joked, a teasing smile upon her lips. She wanted to continue, but didn't know if Kalani had caught everything she'd said. Deciding to take a break and wait for the other to answer, Rhea finished up her first pancake and started in on her second. 

Kalani watched as the other Gryffindor scooched back towards her. Maybe she just wanted a better position for syrup-pouring - Kalani could get behind that. If Kalani was more paranoid, she might have wondered if she smelt bad; she might have subtly tried to check her breath. But that wasn't the kind of person that Kalani was. She just forgot about it.

Holding the body of the strawberry in her mouth, she used sheer force to tear the top leafy part off. She left this part, along with the tiny bit of fruit left, on the top of her pancakes, so that the taste of it would seep into the syrup while she kept on eating the rest of the fruit. It was a trick that her dad had taught her. The family only had pancakes on the very, very rare occasion that they all had a day off since that got rid of the need for the morning rush. Her dad would work in the kitchen while Kalani and her mom channel surfed. Then the group of them would watch some horrible morning movies while eating a stack of pancakes as big as Kalani's legs. As she thought about this, she realised that in the build up for the start of the school year, they hadn't had pancakes once.

She tried to forget about that as she looked back to Rhea. She grinned through strawberry-stained teeth, shrugging. "The ones in Hawaii are better!" she wanted to say, but couldn't think of how to without writing it down. That was something really crap about Hogwarts; you couldn't write stuff on your arms, because instead of just pulling a pen out of your pocket and just going for it, you had to find a quill and inkwell, scratch that horrible little point across your arm, and then wait for the ink to dry. Even then you would probably end with your arm covered in grazes and ink on the inside of your robes. Kalani had already learned that lesson - maybe she should ask her parents to send a marker.

Instead of trying to tell Rhea that the strawberries they were eating were far more sour than the sugar sweet ones in Hawaii (though the Hogwarts ones were bigger) she reached over and grabbed the sugar pot from across the table. She poured some onto the pile of strawberries and then picked out one of the largest ones on the plate with her fork. She dragged it through the syrup, until the berry had lost almost all nutritional value and was enough to give you ten cavities and diabetes.

Once she was satisfied, she held it out to Rhea, holding one hand underneath the strawberry so that the dripping syrup wouldn't fall onto the table. She quickly gave up on this, creating her own version of the barely-fruit and shoving it into her mouth. Now that she'd overloaded it, the sweetness was just about equal to how sweet the ones at home were. She nodded encouragingly towards the strawberry, as if to say "this is how you do it best," and handed the fork to Rhea, eagerly waiting for her feedback.

The pancakes were delicious. The best she'd ever had, perhaps.

Oh, who was she kidding? Of course they were. Back home, the only time she was allowed to eat pancakes (or waffles, or anything of the sort) was... well, almost never. The last time she'd had a pancake was when they'd gone out to brunch with some family friends (the Drakes) and even then Rhea had had to sneak pancakes onto her plate. Without the help of her friend, Zara Drake, she never would've succeeded. But that was a long time ago - perhaps a little bit more than a year, if Rhea's memory didn't fail her? Whatever the case, it had been a long time. 

Given the fact that she was raised in a very conservative and high status house hold, Rhea was never allowed to, as some call it, 'pig out', in fear of ruining the family reputation. Because apparently eating ruined reputations. 

When Rhea had gotten to Hogwarts, she'd been pleased to see that there was a surplus of food. All food that she loved, food that she'd never gotten to eat freely before. In her opinion, the food was the best part of Hogwarts.

Okay, maybe not, but it was up there. 

As she dug into her pancakes, Kalani ate her strawberries. It was in a way that Rhea had previously not seen before. The raven haired beauty decided to coat the strawberry with syrup, and then added some sugar on top of it as well. That was a sure way to get some sort of disease! So much sugar, all in one place. Her mother would have fainted.

Well then, it was good that her mother wasn't here.

Rhea attempted to copy what it was Kalani was doing, but fortunately for her, the girl had made  strawberry herself and was holding it out for Rhea. Grinning, Rhea clumsily took the strawberry and bit into it. The sweetness was overwhelming. It was unlike anything Rhea had tasted in her entire life. How could one handle this much sweetness all in one go? Rhea couldn't understand, but she was determined to overcome whatever troubles she had with taking in this much sweetness and become used to it. Besides, the sourness of the strawberry balanced out its sweetness.

All in all, the taste was delicious and Rhea was glad that she had someone like Kalani to show her the true extent of how good strawberries could be.

As she turned around to let Kalani know of just how good the sweet was, she realized that Kalani had no way to communicate with her. Sure, she had her bracelets, and sure, she could nod and do other actions that could take the place of words, but was that enough to hold a proper conversation. Right before the redhead opened her mouth to speak, she remembered that she had some extra parchment left over from when she was doing her homework assignment. Grinning, she brought the parchment closer to her, as well as the quill & ink pot. Placing them in front of Kalani, she motioned to the parchment, in hopes of getting across that it was okay to write on it. 

"That.. was.. a really... good... strawberry!" Rhea exclaimed, a wide smile on her face. "Where did you.. learn how to.. do that?" Her tone rushing a bit, Rhea tried to slow herself down. The smile never left her face as she waited for the other's answer. Hopefully, the parchment would serve its purpose and the two would be able to communicate properly, without anything getting in their way. 

While Rhea struggled to cope with the sheer diabetic prowess of the strawberry, Kalani scoffed three more. The juice dyed her lips a clown-red and the seeds found their way into every nook and cranny of her teeth. She faintly remembered a well-meaning, but frequently ignored warning - “Careful Kal, strawberries have a lot of fiber!” - as she dug the seeds out with her tongue, and ignored it once more in favour of inhaling one more berry.

She looked back up at Rhea, her teeth and lips still stained red as she beamed. She could see the gears turning behind the red-head’s eyes, until she produced a piece of parchment. It looked to be a conjuration at first, but Kalani quickly realised that it was spare from a project. She easily forgot that she was - as far as she knew - the only student in first year who did silent magic. Not by choice, never by choice. If only she could do regular magic; then, maybe, she would be competent. But it was her only option. Her muteness did not make way for incantations.

Once she realised what Rhea was encouraging, Kalani was all too eager to take the time. She pushed her plate forward to make room, and smoothed the parchment out with a small, rough hand. She looked back to Rhea, and the praise of the food - even if it very loosely fit the definition of such - made her glow. She dunked the quill into the ink pot, not even waiting for it to drip as she put it hurriedly to paper.

My dad taught me!

Her handwriting was rushed and childlike, the sort you would see in a seven or eight year old’s diary. There were sections of the paper where Kalani leant too hard and the ink bled, or where she moved from ink well to paper too fast and the ink dropped into the page in fat drops.

He’s got a sweet tooth. A big one! My mom not so much. She says I’ll ruin my teeth.

She self-consciously ran her tongue along her gums.

But it's fine. I'll just get dentures!

She visibly hesitated, thinking, tongue still working at her teeth.

What about your mom and dad? Sweet or sour?

Though the question was meant with the highest level of naïveté, there was enough interpretations to run an English teacher’s mile. She handed the paper back to Rhea, gently blowing on the ink.