Open Disappointment

[Amelie Derouin]

Amelie was so upset. She had wanted to be on the team more than anything, but to not even be an alternate? It had crushed her. She had been hopeful, had trained and done her best. After seeing the new roster that she wasn't on, Amelie made her way out to the empty pitch. She had decided to spend a few hours training- if she could just do better, if she could be better, then she could make the team next year, right?

But after a while, when her arms ached and she was thoroughly out of breath, Amelie felt herself crack. She landed in the stands and took a seat. Feeling utterly defeated, she buried her head in her hands and cried.

 

[Gabrielle Perrault]

Gabrielle had been pretty content with how tryouts had gone, face lighting up after she had seen the roster of the new team. There had been a lot of spots to fill but there also had been a lot of students trying out. She was happy she had managed to make the team but at the same time it made her a little bit sad to know there had been others who might have been thoroughly disappointed. Still on her pink cloud of happiness Gaby had taken a walk outside, enjoying the fresh air and the weather now it was still nice out. Her walk took her alongside the pitch and she stopped for a second to watch a girl who seemed to be practicing out there on her own. She was about to leave her be when the girl suddenly landed on the stands. From the distance Gaby had a hard time making out the girl's face, but her body language once she sat down and burried her face in her hands told her more than enough. With a small hint of hurry in her step she made her way up the stairs to the spot on the stands she thought the girl had landed at. Once she'd reached the right spot Gaby carefully approached her, sitting down a small distance away from her to not make the other girl feel like she was invading her feelings. "Hey," She started softly, trying to figure out what to say. She wanted to ask if the girl was okay but it seemed pretty obvious she wasn't, instead she opted for something else. "What's going on? You wanna talk about it?"

 

[Amelie Derouin]

Amelie jumped as she heard another voice, turning her head and quickly swiping at her eyes. "What? No, no, I'm alright, I'm fine," She reassured the stranger, taking a breath to pull herself together before glancing over and giving the girl a wobbly smile. "I didn't see you here," She apologized, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I wasn't disturbing you, was I?" She fretted, straightening her sleeves. Was she a mess? She'd been training for hours. She probably smelled horrid. She scooted a little further away, feeling self-conscious.

 

[Gabrielle Perrault]

Gabrielle furrowed her brows for a second when the girl said she was okay whilst she clearly looked to be upset. "You sure?" She asked, not wanting to pry but at the same time feeling a need to console the younger girl. "Oh no, not at all!" Gaby shook her head in response to what the girl said next. If anything, she had been the one to do the disturbing. The younger girl had been here first after all. Perhaps she had just wanted some peace and quiet and someone asking if she was alright was the last thing she was asking for. Even if it was though, Gaby couldn't help herself. "I just wanted to check if you were okay." She cocked her head a little as she smiled at the girl. "I can.. leave you alone if you want though..?"

 

[Amelie Derouin]

Amelie hesitated a moment, before sighing and looking away. "I'm just... disappointed," She spoke softly, folding her hands in her lap. "I don't know if you saw me at the quidditch try-outs," she bit her lip. "I trained all through the break just for this, it was all I wanted. Even if it was just as an alternate," She sighed, wiping her cheek with her sleeve. "I'm an only child. My parents were usually busy with work so I grew up alone a fair bit. But I have cousins, and they would often come over. They're all older than me, of course. And the eldest, well, I adore him," She sighed, ducking her head a bit. "I miss him, all the time, we don't see each other often. He's a professional player, and I just... I feel closer to him when I play," She admitted quietly. "I just wanted him to be proud of me," She murmured, her eyes tearing up again. She swiped at them quickly, though, not wanting to seem like she was too upset.

 

[Gabrielle Perrault]

Gabrielle listened as the girl spoke, only now realizing she had in fact seen her at tryouts. She hadn't remembered her name or how she had done but from what the girl was saying to her now it seemed clear that she hadn't managed to make the team. She smiled when the girl told her about her cousins visiting her, about one in particular she looked up to, one that played quidditch on a professional level. Having someone to look up to in the sport was definitely something Gaby could relate to. All she wanted when playing quidditch was to have fun and do her mother proud. She knew that even if she hadn't made the team her mother would still be proud of her though. "I'm sure he's proud of you whether you made the team or not." She softly spoke, trying to be somewhat encouraging. "And not making the team doesn't mean you can't still play and feel close to him right?"

 

[Amelie Derouin]

Amelie sighed, twiddling her thumbs. "Who am I supposed to play with, though?" She asked softly. "The only real activity around here is on the team. I just... I don't know, I don't even really have any friends, I'm just... alone, all the time, I just thought... maybe if I worked hard enough, maybe if I did my best, I could have something to be proud of, I could see how proud Jamie was of my success and maybe I could build on that," She sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear again. "It was really all I had." She bit her lip, worrying her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry," she apologized, laughing lightly. "I don't mean to be so down," She shook her head, looking down at her lap.

 

[Gabrielle Perrault]

Gaby sat up a bit straighter when the girl questioned who there was to play with. "I'd play with you." She brightly smiled at her. "And I'm sure there's others, perhaps some other students that didn't make the team?" She asked herself more than she asked the girl. Just because someone didn't make the team didn't ban them from playing quidditch, right? Gaby listened as the girl continued talking, feeling genuinly sad for her when it seemed like she had really attached a lot to making the team. "Hey, c'mon.. there's highs and there's lows right? So if you feel like you're at a low now I'm positive something good will have to happen soon." She tried to encourage the girl, carefully placing a gentle hand on her shoulder as she did. "Also who says you don't have friends?" She smiled again, retreating her hand and now holding it out towards the girl. "I'm Gaby."

 

[Amelie Derouin]

Amelie thought about what the girl said. "I... Didn't think of that..." She bit her lip. "What if... We had a friendly quidditch game on the weekends?" She offered softly, considering the possibility. She looked up as the girl spoke again, feeling her heart flutter a little at the reassurance. Amelie blushed a little, and after a moment, she hesitantly reached out and placed her hand in Gaby's. "Amelie. Amelie Derouin," she introduced herself softly.

 

[Gabrielle Perrault]

Gabrielle perked up at the idea of friendly quidditch games on the weekends. "See! There's an idea." She wasn't sure if that was something that could just be done or whether there'd possibly be some sort of arrangement made for it, but it was a solid idea nonetheless. So far it at least seemed like the girl was starting to feel a little bit better about things, which had been her main goal: to see if she was okay and to possibly cheer her up. "See, now you've got at least one friend." She smiled after the girl introduced herself, feeling like she recognized her last name from somewhere and wondering if it might be because she mentioned her cousin being a professional player and her mom being a coach.

 

[Amelie Derouin]

Amelie smiled shyly, surprised by the odd fluttering of her heart. "Thank you," She murmured softly, looking back down to her hands. "It's nice to have a friend," She murmured, looking back around at the pitch. "Excuse me if I'm wrong, Gaby, but didn't I see you at the try-outs?" She asked, turning to look back at her new friend.

 

[Gabrielle Perrault]

"It is." Gaby nodded when Amelie mentioned it being good to have friends, glad she seemed to have been able to get the girl to cheer up. At least she looked a lot more happy than she had been when they started this conversation. "Yeah, you probably did." She smiled, trying not to feel awkward about it since tryouts had basically been the whole reason that Amelie had been upset in the first place. "I uh- I did make the team." Gaby added softly, hoping the girl wouldn't resent her for it. That would kind of ruin her whole idea of trying to help her out.

 

[Amelie Derouin]

Amelie's eyes lit up as Gaby said she made the team. "Really? That's amazing!" She gushed, turning in her seat a bit and her eyes sparkling. "What position did you get? Are you a full player or an alternate?" She giggled a little, smiling brightly. If there wasn't any reason for her to try out for the team again before, there certainly was now. She thought it would be fun to have a team full of people that you could admire and be friends with.

 

[Gabrielle Perrault]

Gaby smiled at Amelie's enthousiasm when she mentioned being chosen for the team, glad she didn't make the other girl feel bad about that. "Chaser." She answered, before giving a little nod. "Full on starter position." She added, trying to contain her enthousiasm about it all, even if the other girl didn't seem to mind so far. To see her name on that list had just been great and getting to write to her mom about it had been even better.

 

[Amelie Derouin]

Amelie's eyes lit up, her smile getting impossibly bigger and she giggled again. "Oh, Chaser is the best position!" She tucked her hair behind her ear. "My cousin is a Chaser!" She laughed lightly, shifting in her seat so she was facing Gaby a bit more. "What got you into Quidditch?" She asked brightly.

 

[Gabrielle Perrault]

Gabrielle laughed when the girl mentioned chaser being the best position. She was definitely pleased with it herself as well, even if it meant she wasn't exactly following in her mother's footsteps. She'd never wanted to either, she just wanted to play quidditch, enjoy it, have fun and obviously win some games. Or all of them. "Says a beater?" She chuckled at Amelie's reaction. "My mom." Gaby answered the question with a small smile. "She used to play professionally, was part of a couple of different teams through the years." She happily explained, always proud of how much her mom had done. "She's moved onto coaching now though, doesn't play anymore."

 

[Amelie Derouin]

Amelie laughed in delight, loving getting to know Gaby. "That's really cool, your mom sounds awesome," She chattered brightly. "We should hang out again sometime," She stated, though immediately just laughed. "Or we could just go find some dinner, I'm really rather hungry," She smiled. "Do you want to go get something to eat?" She asked, hoping Gaby said yes, Amelie really hoped she could spend more time with the older girl.