Closed Bitter Truths

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron sat down across from Valerius, making sure to give him the best frown he could muster up for a few moments before speaking. He wanted it to be clear that he was only here as a last resort. He didn't actually care about this or want to be here, but he needed answers and he sure as hell wasn't going to ask Margo even he was pretty sure she was friends, or at least friendly, with Valerius. The sooner he got this off his mind, the sooner he could forget about Aine.

"So are you and Aine like... Dating?" Cameron finally asked once he was finished glaring. "I don't care or anything, but I was developing photos from the ball and you guys were pretty close and stuff," he said, waving a vague hand. It wasn't a complete lie, he had managed to get plenty of photos of Valerius and Aine together from the Ball, but he also hadn't needed them to have the thought bothering him all holiday break. He didn't actually care if they were dating, if anything they were both equally awful, it'd be a perfect match really. Cameron just needed to know for certain.

 

[Valerius Bianchi]

Valerius was studying for his classes, reading over a text while he nibbled on his lunch. He looked up as he heard a shifting, raising a brow as Cameron appeared across from him. "Hello?" He greeted, though it was ignored. He shut his book slowly as Cameron finished glaring just to ask a ridiculous question. "We're twelve, Cameron. We're too young to be dating." He countered, folding his hands in front of him to look at the other boy. "You've put a lot of effort into finding out for someone who doesn't care."

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron just rolled his eyes at Valerius as he said hello; he wasn't here to exchange pleasantries. If he could avoid talking to Valerius at all he would but he'd already ruled out trying to ask Margo about this and the only other option was asking Aine herself and no way was that happening. "I've seen 12 year olds with girlfriends before," Cameron said crossly, crossing his arms defensively. Sure, they were more of the type to just hold hands and tell everyone they were dating but it still counted. He was even more suspicious of Valerius and Aine now. She would end up going out with someone as smug as Valerius. "Anyway, you were the one going around hitting on random girls at school dances," he pointed out, jabbing a finger at Valerius before frowning again at his next comment. "I am not, I'm just asking. Shut up," he said hotly, slumping back down sourly in his seat.

 

[Valerius Bianchi]

Valerius raised a brow. "I am not 'hitting on' random girls, Cameron," He countered. "It's called good manners. I apologize if you can't recognize common courtesy when you see it." He replied, almost a bit flippantly. "I was raised to treat ladies with respect. It's called being a gentleman." Valerius folded his hands in front of him. "Aine is my friend. I spent time with my friend. What business that is of yours, I have no idea." He spoke a bit dryly, agitated by the boys rudeness.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine wondered if perhaps she had the power to become a seer, or maybe it was just a coincidence that she suddenly had a bad feeling and looked up from her lunch to see Cameron and Valerius talking over at the Ravenclaw table. Was it selfish to have the assumption that they were talking about her? Was she thinking too much of herself? She didn't think either of them particularly liked each other - or at least she didn't think Cameron liked Valerius that much and Valerius was probably indifferent. Maybe they had a class together they were discussing? Aine screwed up her face. Highly doubtful. Cautiously, she stood up and moved around to the other side of the table, in a way where she was evidently trying to be subtle and failing at it. She wanted to know what they were saying, even if that was likely a bad idea.

 

[Cameron Roswell]

"It's called good manners," Cameron mimicked, making a point to roll his eyes again in case Valerius had missed it the first time. He couldn't help but snort at Valerius next comment though, giving him an incredulous look. "They're not ladies," he said with a snort. "Aine and Margo?" He shook his head, wrinkling his nose. "God, you're so weird and boring," he added, building up steam as he tried to return the dismissive look Valerius was giving him. The guy was so stuffy and it rankled Cameron that he seemed to think he was so much better than him just cause he talked all posh and was creepily nice to girls, in felt good to try and take him back down a peg. They were just girls, Cameron wasn't going to treat them special for it. "I was just asking, no need to get all flustered. Unless you like her or something," he added, ignoring how his stomach tensed at the thought.

 

[Valerius Bianchi]

Valerius sipped his drink, setting it down and folding his hands again before saying anything. "I don't seem to recall asking for your opinion, Cameron. You are the one that sat down to inquire if Aine and I are dating. Your lack of manners and blatant disrespect of both my friend and who I thought was your friend is frankly childish, and I do pity anyone stuck with your barbarism for any extended amount of time. " Valerius countered, completely serious. "If you're done being overly invested in matters you claim not to care for, perhaps you could see yourself out of the conversation you started?" He asked, brow raised. "My relationship with Aine is none of your business, and purely between us. Do have a nice day," He tried to dismiss the other boy, sipping his drink again.

 

[Aine Thompson]

It was unfortunate, really, that the people next to her chose that moment to have a loud conversation, stopping Aine from being able to hear what was being said properly. She instead just had to give up and approach them directly, she supposed, in order to find out what was being said, as there was no way this could horribly backfire by her mishearing part of what was being said and jumping to the incorrect conclusion hastily. Aine would never do such a cliched thing.

"Your what with me?" Aine asked as she approached the two, having only heard parts of the last sentence and hastily jumping to the incorrect conclusion. Clearly this was a massive mistake, but in her mind all she could think was 'I was right, this was giving the wrong idea'. Was he just gossiping about her, lording a supposed relationship with her over people? That seemed...like a terrible thing to lord over other people and didn't make sense if Aine thought about it more than not at all. But she was embarrassed, catching someone she considered a close friend and someone she considered a rival talking about her so publicly. Her face was bright red, eyes darting between the two of them as she drew in a breath. "...I would thank you not to talk about me like that," she managed, coldly, her voice far louder than it should have been. "Or at all." She glared at Valerius for a second, before looking away, disgusted. Why would he make up lies like that, she thought, completely misinterpreting the situation but too flustered and annoyed to try and wait for a genuine explanation. "And you...just...ugh." She couldn't even come up with a retort to Cameron. It was pretty lousy of him to go around trying to get gossip about her and she didn't understand why he had it out for her so badly. She could feel people looking at them, and ducked her head, turning to flee in humiliation.

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron clicked his tongue in annoyance as Valerius kept talking like a freakin' vampire or something. How anyone could stomach listening to him talk for more than two seconds he didn't know. He already knew Aine was a stuck up nerd so it made sense but he had to seriously question why Margo had entertained being friends with him for any amount of time. "I don't disrespect them I just don't talk like a weirdo," he said hotly, moving to stand up angrily as Valerius tried to dismiss him with some snobby crap, caught halfway through the motion but the sudden arrival of Aine.

Cameron's stomach sunk as her first words, glancing quickly between the two of them, stomach swooping at the stormy expression on her face and doubly down into a nose dive at what said said. So they were a thing. Or maybe Aine wanted them to be a thing. It was all so stupid and Cameron felt his face flush to be caught out even asking. "It's not like I care," he managed weakly to Aine's retreating back, glancing back at Valerius with a final glare. "God, you- You suck," he decided, moving to leave before hesitating, not wanting to run into Aine in the hallway, before stiffly walking in the other direction, resolving to lurk at the Slytherin table until it felt safe enough to flee himself.

 

[Valerius Bianchi]

Valerius rolled his eyes, unsure what Cameron had even wanted from coming over here. But before he could even respond to the other boy again, Aine was there, and to his utter horror she yelled at him. His jaw dropped, and he sat there a moment, dumbfounded. He couldn't even feel relieved that Cameron had left, and for several moments he just sat there, astounded. He swallowed hard, his cheeks burning, and pushed his food aside, gathering his things and leaving the room.