Closed Closing Every Door

[Ares Kuya-Tine]

As the semester progressed, Ares was beginning to feel a little down. He hadn’t been able to spend as much time with Jordie as he liked, especially now that Jordie was a prefect and he was now doing some tutoring with younger students as well as some other responsibilities that he had picked up. He wanted to tell the Hufflepuff to slow down and take it easy, but he didn’t want to come off as controlling. He was happy to give Jordie some time on his own, but it was hard when Ares barely had anyone else to speak to.

After his classes for the day, Ares headed out of the common room and to the student lounge. The common room often became too crowded for some time on his own, and even though the student lounge tended to get busy, he was hopeful that today it wouldn’t. As he opened the door, he took a sigh of relief as there was no one to be found. The teen just headed over to the couch and curled himself up. He wanted to sleep, but knew these never ending thoughts would just not end. What could he say to Jordie to convince him? Would it be bad if he said anything? Should he just let everything happen and see where they end up? His head was beginning to pound. He didn’t know what to do.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

With everything that had been going on the past couple of weeks, Estella had admittedly been having trouble keeping up with everything. She had a few things she needed to complete for the Monthly, as well as some assignments that she needed to catch up on, and the only time she had for it were late nights. The girl wanted some space to herself, and knew her dormitory would not quite give her that. It was hard to find some space, let alone some time.

Estella quickly gathered everything that she needed. Firstly she headed to the library, but unfortunately that was closed, and so she then headed back to the student lounge, hoping there would be some peace and quiet in there. But as she opened the door, through the darkness, she spotted a figure curled up on the couch. Upon walking a little closer to it, she noticed that it was Ares. The Hufflepuff quickly dropped her books onto the coffee table and sat down next to him. “Ares, are you okay?” she asked softly in case he was sleeping.

 

[Ares Kuya-Tine]

Ares was not sure how much time had passed until he heard someone enter the room. He stayed still and quiet, hoping they would not notice him, or that they would notice him and leave. But instead they decided to walk over to him. This confused Ares a little, but still he stayed quiet. When he heard the sound of a familiar voice, he slowly looked up. Essie. He saw the outline of her face in the darkness looking down at him. What was she doing? How did she know where to find him? “Yes.” he said quickly, sitting himself up. “Just ahh… thinking.” He shifted a little, debating whether or not he should just get up and leave. But perhaps that would be too obvious that something was up, and he didn't want to embarrass either of them like that. He just sat there, a little frozen, unsure if he even had the energy to move.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Essie watched as Ares composed himself a little. She frowned however as he clearly lied to her. Maybe he was thinking, but he clearly wasn’t okay. “That was a rhetorical question.” She sighed. She didn’t care anymore about all of the work she had to do, not when one of her friends were upset. She had never seen Ares like this, especially not since he started dating his boyfriend. His usual confident self was out of the window, and perhaps there was more underneath the boy's surface. It made her curious, and she hoped he would be able to talk to her. “What’s up?” she asked in her best attempt to seem casual.

 

[Ares Kuya-Tine]

Ares should have known Essie was going to persist. Why did she care so much? She had plenty of other things to worry about and plenty of other friends to hang out with. It was making him frustrated, and even though he didn’t want to take it out on one of his only friends, he couldn’t help himself. “I’m honestly fine! No offence, but I just wanted some time on my own to think about things. And Jordie is too busy, so I’m just here by myself.” he told her, the frustration clear in his voice. He couldn’t believe that he thought there was anywhere he could be alone in the school.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Essie wasn’t usually unphased by people who spoke to her in such an unsettling way, but this time was different. As Ares almost told her off, she just sat there and took a deep breath. He clearly needed some help and it was obvious to Essie that it should be her to help him. She knew from recent experience that she shouldn’t push her friends away by making silly mistakes, and she didn’t want to put Ares through that, especially since Essie was probably his only friend. “I’m obviously not the best at relationships, but I think, whatever it is, you should be honest with him. Don’t let him go.” Essie wasn’t sure if he wanted her advice, but he definitely seemed like he needed it.

 

[Ares Kuya-Tine]

Ares expected Essie to walk out as he knew she was a little sensitive sometimes. Instead, she stayed there. She was even willing to give him some unsolicited advice. “Sorry.” Ares said, a little embarrassed at himself. He knew she was just trying to help, even though all he wanted was to be left alone. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was grateful that she was still there. “He’s just busy all of the time with tutoring, prefect stuff, band practice.. It’s all getting too much for him. And not only that, but.. I don’t know... I just feel so..." Ares didn’t know how to explain it, so he just sunk in his seat, ready for Essie to run away now.