Closed Sticks and Paper

[Rion Pendleton]

The morning of the scouts' paper boat race was a wet one. It had been drizzling all morning, and though the sun had emerged at last, the picnic tables were still damp with rain. Rion dislodged a stick from the bracken and picked it up. A little too flimsy to be a convincing wand, but it would do for the purpose. She flourished it and stamped her foot. "Table... be dry!" she commanded. At the same moment, unbeknownst to her, one of the assistant scout leaders standing nearby cast a real spell, and a silver mist began to rise from the benches. It hung ethereally in the air for a moment before lifting higher and vanishing entirely. Rion stared at the bone-dry table, and then at her stick, mouth agape. She'd been planning her paper boat design for hours, but she didn't give two furry rats' bums about the race if she was holding what she thought she was holding. "Um," Rion said, turning slowly to her partner. "I think I found a magic stick."

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Moving to New Zealand was not something Ruby Maeve had expected to happen, but her fathers had heard how well her cousin had done, and the fact that she was now some sort of narc or fun police seemed to have given them hope. It wasn't that Ruby was uncontrollable, it was just that she needed something in return, if they wanted her to do something. She was unsure about Scouts when they suggested it to her, but Ruby definitely missed being in nature, and her father's new careers meant that she wasn't outside as much as she'd like to be. So far, she was enjoying it.
Ruby was collecting a bunch of good looking sticks, her and her partner had come up with a perfect design. She took her seat again, beginning to arrange them before looking up as her partner approached her. "Shut up! Seriously? What did you do with it?"

 

[Rion Pendleton]

"I dried the..." Rion trailed off. Out of the corner of her eye, she had just spotted the real spell-caster repeating the charm on another table. "Never mind!" Tossing the stick over her shoulder, she sat down on the opposite seat. While Rion had been gaping at a completely ordinary stick, her partner had been hard at work collecting materials for their boat. "Perfect. I've never made a boat before, but I think I know what I'm doing. I'm Rion, by the way. You're... Ruby?"

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby waited eagerly to hear the girl's answer, hopeful that the magic stick would help them win their boat race. But her partner threw the stick away, and Ruby's eyes widened and followed where the stick landed. Why would she get rid of the magic stick?! Unless she was a liar and realized Rube would see right through it straight away. No sooner had the thought entered her mind, did it leave, upon hearing how perfect her work had been so far. Ruby beamed, of course it was perfect. "Yes, Ruby Maeve, but you can just call me Ruby or Rubes or whatever. I haven't done built a boat before, but I have been on one, so surely it can't be hard to figure out right?!" Ruby stated, pulling a piece of paper over to her and folding it in half.

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Rion took a few pieces of paper as well, figuring that if they both made a boat, they could pick the best one, which would be hers. "Really? What kind of boat?" she asked. Rion had never even been in a canoe or anything. She was unbalanced enough on solid ground.

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby glanced at Rion as she started folding paper too, so she made sure that the next piece of paper she folded was perfectly measured. She shrugged her shoulders at the question. "I dunno. The type that goes out on the water. My dads used to have one back in South Africa. They'd go fishing, I'd go swimming. I've even seen what the bottom of a boat looks like." At that comment, Ruby stopped folding her papers and took some of the best sticks, getting some of the twine provided to wrap around it. "Have you been on a boat?"

 

[Rion Pendleton]

This was harder than Rion had expected. But she was so good at making things! Why wasn't her paper folding right? "Oh. Are you from South Africa?" she asked, forgetting about the boats momentarily. "Do you live here now? I live in England, but my granddad has a house here. We're staying with him this week." At last, her paper submitted to being folded. She tried not to think about how much better Ruby's boat looked already. "Nope, never. But I know what they look like."

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby nodded her head, listening to the girl. "Yeah, that's why the way I speak sounds different to you." Ruby said smugly, pleased that she knew something so smart. "They're called accents, you sound different to everyone in New Zealand too." She had never been to England before - in fact, she had never even heard of England before. But she couldn't let Rion know that. "Are you going to be going to school in England?" She glanced at Rion's folded paper, before saying, "If you need any help, I can help you. Or you can help me tie these sticks together, they have to be really tight."

 

[Rion Pendleton]

"I know they're called accents," Rion said patiently. "England has loads of them." Indeed, Rion sounded very different from the people up north, or even a hundred miles west. "Nope. I'm going here, with my sister - she's a Hufflepuff." She watched Ruby effortlessly wrap the twine around her sticks and pushed down a growing frustration. It wasn't fair. She was usually good at making things! Then again, she usually had an adult to help her when it went wrong. "I'm fine. You do yours and I'll do mine. Are you using this last piece of paper?"

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby rolled her eyes when the girl claimed she knew what they were called; she certainly didn't seem sure a few moments ago. She dropped it though, not really caring about England's accents, as Rion continued talking. "I'm going here too. What House will you be in?" Ruby asked, sure she was not going to be in Hufflepuff. She kind of hoped Rion would not be in Hufflepuff either, having a friend to start with would be nice, but Rubes also knew that she would make a new friend easily.
Ruby snorted at Rion's comment. "No, I don't need it. We're still going to have to use the best boat though. The one that will win the race."

 

[Rion Pendleton]

"I don't know, we don't get to choose," Rion said. "I'd like to be with my sister, but... I'm so different to her." She sounded quite relieved about this. As much as she loved Ainmere, she wouldn't have swapped personalities with her for anything. "I don't know. I don't want to guess. I'm just going to wait and see." With permission, she took the last piece of paper and began to crease the edges. The pressure was really on now. And it wasn't being helped by Ruby's comments. Rion kept quiet, afraid that if she opened her mouth, she might say something curt. It was Rion's design, mostly. OK, they'd had an equal share of input, but Rion's input had definitely been more valuable, and if Ruby's boat won it would only be because she'd helped her. It was this stupid paper, that was all - it was too thick and wouldn't stay where she folded it no matter how hard she pressed.

"Ow!" Rion drew back her finger to see blood filling a shallow cut. It didn't hurt that much, but the added fact her paper didn't even resemble a boat was making her emotional. She tore her paper in half, then in quarters, before standing up from the table and storming off towards the trees. This was such a stupid activity, anyway. Of course she could make a paper boat! She didn't need to win a race to prove it. She found a big tree and planted herself down on an exposed root, hugging her knees.

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby rolled her eyes again when Rion said they didn't get to choose. Of course she knew that, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to get exactly what she wanted anyway. Rion seemingly ended the conversation, and Ruby shrugged her shoulders, continuing building her boat, quite happy with the progress she was making. She had managed to make a cool shape, with a sturdy bottom, all she really needed to add now was the sail. Before she could get started though, Rion made a noise and Ruby looked up to see the girl rip her paper to shreds. Ruby raised an eyebrow at the dramatics, but then Rion stood up and left. Ruby's eyes followed her and watched as she sat down under a tree, before looking back at her almost finished boat. On one hand, Ruby really wanted to win this competition. And she was on the right track, she was almost done! But on the other hand, Rion was going to Hogwarts, and Ruby wanted a friend. And as a friend, she should be concerned on what was troubling her friend. She knew she'd want the same done for her. With one last, sad look at her boat, Ruby stood up and made her way over to Rion, sitting down next to her, bringing her knees up as well. She didn't say anything, just sat there, also feeling sad.

 

[Rion Pendleton]

After all the jabs she’d made, Rion didn’t expect Ruby to follow her. She didn’t want Ruby to follow her. And yet when she heard twigs snapping up ahead, she hoped in her heart that she would look up and see her boat-racing partner and not one of the adults.

Her wish was granted. Rion wiped her nose, realising how very childish she was being. They were supposed to be working together, and all she’d done so far was try to make a better boat than Ruby’s. Well, any boat at all would have been nice, really, but clearly she couldn’t even fold paper. A few moments passed in silence, until Rion said, “Sorry. Let’s finish your boat, OK?” She stood up. “Come on.”

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby was surprised by Rion’s sudden voice and movement and she looked up at the girl as she stood up. A grin spread across Ruby’s face as she stood up and pulled Rion into a quick and short hug before stepping back and holding her friend by the shoulders. “We’re gonna go kick everyone else’s a**es.” She stated before offering her hand to lead her back to their table. “My dads gave me tips before coming today, that’s why I know what I’m doing.” Ruby said, letting Rion in on her secret.

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Rion hugged Ruby back, her smile hiding a pang of regret. She was just attention seeking, throwing a strop because things hadn't gone her way. It was the sort of thing a three-year-old would do. She'd have to be extra mature for the rest of the day, she decided, to make up for it. "Yeah," she grinned, as they walked hand-in-hand back to the table. "Oh! Well, now, that explains everything. Show me how you're doing it?"

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

"Well, it doesn't explain everything, I'm also just pretty good at stuff sometimes, without even trying." Ruby said proudly. Ruby spent the next ten minutes with Rion, showing her how she made her boat so good, and adding the finishing touches. After the ten minutes was up, the adults called time, and Ruby walked hand in hand with Rion again to the starting line. "Well, Ri, here goes nothing!" She handed the boat to her new friend, for her to launch it, feeling incredibly confident.

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Rion resisted an eye-roll. Yeah, yeah, Ruby was perfect, she got the idea. But even she had to admit that the girl's paper-boat-making skills were impressive. Perhaps she should have asked her own dad for advice, or better yet, her granddad. He had a great big Lego boat in his study, and he must have known a thing or two about origami. But it was too late for that, now. Their boat was finished and ready to set sail. Rion held her hands up automatically to accept it but immediately pushed it back at Ruby. "No! You made it," she said. "You should do it."

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby withdrew her extended arm slightly, cocking her head to the side as the girl in front of her exclaimed that Ruby had to do it, because she made it. Had that been Ruby, she would have revelled in the opportunity to do something so important; the launch had to be perfect, otherwise having a perfect boat would be useless. It was confusing to her, that Rion would rather Ruby have the glory for it. "I dunno. If we want to call this team work, you should at least have some part in it, right?" Ruby asked, with a genuine smile, unaware of her backhanded words.

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Rion went from touched to confused to mildly offended as she processed Ruby's reply. "Aw. I mean, I helped design it," she pointed out, but even as she did so she pulled the boat back again. Maybe it was better if she launched it after all. She leaned over the water and dropped their creation as far out as she possibly could, to give them a nice head-start. The best part about having had no part in building the thing was that if it sank, she could hold Ruby entirely accountable. In the event of this, the fact she had helped design it would have suddenly become quite insignificant.

But the boat didn't sink. It sailed, or rather drifted, triumphantly out into the water, knocking a less sturdy boat off-course as it went. Rion grabbed Ruby's arm. "It's winning! It might actually win," she said. But several meters from the finish line it began to slow down. "Why's it stopping? No! Move! Go, go, go!"

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby smiled and nodded her head at Rion's reply. "Yes, you did!" She agreed happily. Glad that Ri decided to take the boat and launch it, Ruby's excitement started to tip over the edge and she was bouncing on the spot, and began cheering as soon as the race started. Rion did so well with the launch, and their boat moved so smoothly, destroying their competition. Ruby continued to scream in elation, but the elation soon turned to outrage and disbelief as their boat started to slow. "NO YOU STUPID BOAT!" Ruby yelled, watching in dismay as another boat went past the finish line before theirs. Ruby's jaw dropped and she turned to Rion. "What!!!? That's not right! We were winning! WE WERE WINNING!" She yelled as she ran to the co-ordinator. "She must have used a spell!" Ruby shouted angrily, pointing at the girl who had won.

 

[Rion Pendleton]

They'd made it too heavy. Reinforcing the boat with sticks had given them the upper hand at the beginning, but ultimately the weight of them had slowed it down. Rion was quite sure of this, because she had predicted it. She had completely forgotten that she'd predicted it, but she certainly had, at least for a fleeting moment, when they had been sketching their design. Her quick dismissal of the thought had led to their downfall!

Rion pressed her hands against her chest. Ruby was furious. Of course she was. She'd put so much work - all of the work - into making their boat. Anxiously, Rion trailed after her. If she explained the real reason they'd lost, would she be angry with her instead? "It's okay," she said. "Ruby, it's okay! Please don't."

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby looked at Rion, bewildered as she said it was okay. How was she taking this so calmly? They were just about to win the race that had brought them together as friends, a race that had taken them ages to design and build the boat, and it was supposedly 'okay'?! "It's not," Ruby said to her friend, in a lower tone, feeling her skull push against her head in ager. "It's not okay," Ruby continued, her voice getting louder again, "Because she cheated!!" Ruby exclaimed, yelling and pointing at the girl again, who was looking shocked.

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Rion took hold of Ruby's accusing arm and gently tried to push it down. "You're going to make her cry!" she squeaked, standing directly in front of Ruby to block the girl from her view. "She's, like, eight, oh my goodness. Please don't. It's just a boat race. Please?"

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby tried to glare at the girl as Rion stood in front of her, trying to see past her friend but paused when she saw how desperate Ri was for Rubes to stop. "She's only going to cry because she got caught in her cheating." Ruby said defensively, glaring at the tearful child again before looking back at Rion. With a huge huff, Ruby held her hands up in surrender. "Okay okay, I'm done. She knows what she did anyway. Besides, it would have been cool for our first friendship story to be about how we won the boat race, but now, we're the losers."

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Rion shuffled left and right to keep the young girl out of Ruby's view. She wasn't sure if it was helping, but at last Ruby seemed to back down. Unfortunately, the damage was already done. The kids who weren't staring in wide-eyed fear were smirking at them horribly. "Yeah, now we're the losers," Rion agreed, exasperated. If Ruby hadn't started screaming her head off, they might at least have come second with dignity. Now all they'd be remembered as were sore losers.