2nd Time In Obsidian Harbour

[Chrysanthemum Xanthe Tollin]

Xanthe sat down on a bench near a large ice cream place. She inhaled the fresh "wizard" air and grinned. Xanthe felt relaxed, which she needed for the day's later events. Xanthe's snobby cousin was flying in to New Zealand from Venezuela to visit Xanthe's family and their new home. Her cousin was cruel to Xanthe, always treating her like a slave. She liked to prove that her name was longer than Chrysanthemum Xanthe Vannalyka Tollin and that she could say her name faster. "Xymonah Hazzelle Juniper Prymaverah Davalynda Esmeralda Sionni Gwendolyn Tamzynn Evangelina Roxanne Summer Yale" She would say, head stuck up, proud of her bratty little self. Xanthe was sick of it and she decided she would stay out of the house for as long as possible while Xymonah Hazzelle was there.

Xanthe couldn't take even thinking about her cousin a minute longer, so she stood up and strolled. She politely waved as wizards passed by, hoping that one would take the time to come talk to her.

 

[Amanda Pike]

Amanda had been window shopping, secretly hoping to find somebody her age and make a friend. She had been walking around for about an hour, knowing that her parents were okay with her being there. Suddenly, she was drawn in to an ice cream place and saw a girl her age sitting on a bench. What do you know, it worked! she thought. She walked over and smiled. Then she realized that she hadn't thought of anything to say. Nice job, she thought. Say something, anything!

She blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. Although it wasn't really the best thing to say. "I love ice cream," she said quickly before slapping herself on the forehead. "Sorry about that. I was kind of looking for anyone to start talking to, so I walked over here after seeing you but I forgot to prepare something to say. I kind of blurted out the first thing that came to mind, because we're at an ice cream place I kind of thought of ice cream." Amanda took a deep breath after speaking. "Really, I'm sorry if I freaked you out or anything," she added.

 

[Chrysanthemum Xanthe Tollin]

Xanthe's eyes were wide as the girl who stood before her spoke. After soaking in the surprise of it all, Xanthe began to laugh. Eventually her laughter slowed itself and Xanthe was able to talk, "Haha, I love ice cream too and you did freak me out a little at first but I understand your point of view." She would take every chance she got to make a new friend. Sometimes they ended up a little out of hand and Xanthe had to make the responsible decision that they may not be her type of friend. Xanthe extended her hand for the girl to shake, "I'm Chrysanthemum Xanthe Vannalyka Tollin. Xanthe or Chryssie for short."

 

[Amanda Pike]

Amanda laughed a little. The whole situation did seem a little comical. Her eyes widened at the girl's name. "Uh, I think I'll just call you Chryssie," she said, smiling. "You're full name's a little too long for me to say. I'm Amanda. Mandy for short." She shook Chryssie's hand. "I hope I'm not being rude or anything, but why were you just sitting on the bench all alone?"

 

[Chrysanthemum Xanthe Tollin]

Xanthe giggled again at the mention of the length of her name, "Yes it is quite long. It is supposed to be an artistic name. I don't really like it though." Xanthe had always found it to be a burden, a large one at that, always needing to spell it out for people. "I just came here to relax a bit before my bratty little cousin arrives from Venezuela," Xanthe sighed, thinking of how close she must be to New Zealand by now, "My life becomes hectic when she visits. We just finished unpacking and SHE just had to come see!" Xanthe gritted her teeth in anger. Once she had calmed herself almost completely she smiled and apoligized.

 

[Amanda Pike]

Amanda nodded. She could relate to not liking her name. "I know what you mean," she said. "I mean, people made names for me using my real name in them and I just didn't like it anymore. So now I go by Mandy." She wondered what was wrong with the cousin. Chryssie seemed nice, it was probably the cousin who was doing stuff wrong. Amanda was 100% sure. "What's wrong with your cousin?" She was very close with her cousins. Of course, she got shy whenever meeting up with them after a long time had gone by without seeing them, but then they had a lot of fun together. Then Chryssie started apologizing. "It's fine, Chryssie," Amanda said. "It isn't like you swore at me or anything."

 

[Chrysanthemum Xanthe Tollin]

"Mandy's a nice name," Chryssie thought aloud. It was, in a way, random and it made Chryssie feel... weird. When Mandy asked about Chryssie's cousin, she became angry again at the thought of the little brat. "She's just rude. A snob. A brat," Chryssie rolled her eyes as she imagined Xymonah Hazzelle pushing her around. "She treats me like I'm her little Aschenputtel! And she thinks she is 'all that and a bag of Doritos' which can get REALLY annoying!" Chryssie took a deep breath and laughed a bit at nothing at all. Chryssie felt like she was going insane, but she kept the feelings contained.

 

[Amanda Pike]

Amanda nodded. "Well, then, I can understand why you don't like her," she said. She thought for a moment about Aschenputtel. Wasn't that Cinderella? That would definitely fit. "Evil cousin plus awesome person equals stay away from house? Yeah, that's definitely math I can understand. Even though I understand most math." She winked, hoping that making Chryssie laugh would make her feel better about her cousin. Maybe they wouldn't have to meet anyway. Depending of course on how long she could stay in Obsidian Harbor. Amanda smiled. "So, want to get some ice cream? It's nice out today and we're right outside an ice cream place. I have some money, enough to pay for both of us."