Closed Facing Fears

[October Alcott]

October wondered if she'd ever stop feeling out of place at parties. She had expected this to stop when she had left Hogwarts, but nothing had changed the way she hoped it would. Well... that wasn't true. She was happier, certainly. But feeling uncomfortable and out of place, like a nerd who showed up at the wrong party by mistake, that never seemed to change. And parties where she only knew the host definitely weren't the place to start combatting that feeling. Standing in the corner sipping a drink, October wondered how they did it. The people who were laughing and chatting and dancing, making friends with people they had never even met before. She had always wanted to be the kind of person who could do that, make a friend so easily, but there seemed to be something written deep into the fiber of October's being that always held her back, no matter how hard she tried. She imagined what a more confident, more fun version of herself would do, dancing away, the life of the party, watching it all in her mind as she hovered in her quiet corner of the party, alone.

 

[Sia Tofilau]

Halloween hadn't really ever been Sia's thing. She hadn't even been coming to this party until about 12 hours ago when her flatmate practically begged her to come out with her. Not wanting to be the only person there not in at least some sort of costume, they'd spent the afternoon hitting up a few costume shops before finally finding a passable get-up at the Warehouse. It was a little tight, but Sia thought it looked cute at least. Sadly she didn't have any pockets though and Sia had been begrudgingly juggling carrying around her phone and drink in her hand all night so far.

It was weird being at a party now, away from home, though Sia was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of faces from school she recognized. Despite that though, she wasn't really feeling it tonight, worn out already from a bumpy first year of uni. It was terrifying to think her first year was going to be over in like a month. Sia leant against a wall, letting her shoulders drop and taking a long gulp of her drink. "Am I too young to think I'm getting too old for this?" She asked the girl lingering nearby with a laugh, swirling her drink.

 

[October Alcott]

October had been approached a few times before at parties, usually by boys far more drunk than could possibly be healthy, and she usually felt overwhelmed by a deep need to protect herself from whatever the situation was. This time though, she found herself giggling before she had even really processed that she was talking to a stranger. Glancing over at the girl, October felt her heart skip a beat, looking away again quickly before it felt like she was ogling. October had had a couple of short flings since starting uni, but she couldn't remember the last time she had talked to someone quite so attractive. She smiled quickly, trying not to let her jitters show, and took another sip of her drink. "That makes two of us." She said with a small smile, glancing at the girl again. "Do you know anyone here?"

 

[Sia Tofilau]

Sia smiled at the girl when she agreed with her. Thank god she wasn't alone in that feeling at least. Being away from home and quietly drowning in schoolwork for most of the year was apparently the perfect recipe for being alone. "Cheers to that, then. Glad I'm not the only one," She said, raising her cup to the girl. "Nah yeah, my flatmate dragged me here and there's a few kids from uni I know," She said, pointing out a few key faces. "And I'm pretty sure I've seen that dude stealing napkins from the canteen," Not that she blamed him to be honest. Even with some flatmates to split rent, Sia had never had to budget things on her own before either and Real Life was tragically expensive. "I wasn't honestly planning on being here, I bought this costume like four hours ago," She added, shaking her head. "But better than my previous evening plan of crying about exams so I'll take it I guess."

 

[October Alcott]

October could feel a smile creeping onto her face as she listened to the other girl's commentary on the other partygoers, a small snort of laughter escaping her at the comment about the one who had been stealing napkins. "I'd believe that, I've definitely seen people nicking things from there before." She commented, pleasantly surprised at how comfortable she felt in this conversation. Parties were usually nothing but stress, but talking to this girl was... fun. She chuckled again at the girl's comments about her costume, nodding in agreement. "I almost didn't come." She agreed, gesturing to her own relatively weak costume. "I'm glad I did, though. I'm October." She added, smiling shyly. "Real name, I've heard every comment you could imagine."

 

[Sia Tofilau]

Sia nodded when the girl confirmed she'd seen her own share of canteen theft. "Right? If they don't want students to take stuff, they need to stop leaving it places we can get to it," She said, shaking her head with a laugh. She hadn't gotten that desperate herself, thankfully. Sia tried to take good care of her stuff and so far her budget was holding up, but it was all still weird being without her family around sometimes. Sia laughed sympathetically at October's name, nodding in understanding. "I get you. I have two annoying little brothers so I can imagine," She said with a smile. "I do have to ask though.. So were you born in October or-?" She said, hiding her teasing smile in her cup as she took a drink. "I'm Sia, I'm doing BioChem at Vic," She added, giving October what she hoped was a charming grin, hoping to just casually drop her major and impress her. Off in the distance she was pretty sure she could her her flatmate's very distinct laugh, but Sia didn't really feel like talking or paying attention to anyone else but October and her cute pink wig right now.

 

[October Alcott]

October laughed and nodded in agreement to the girl's comment, finding herself leaning a little closer to the stranger instinctively. It had been a long time since anyone had been this easy to talk to. She burst out laughing at her comment about little brothers. "Oh, yeah, I was born in October. My sister was born in April, and I'll give you one guess what her name is." October smiled, sipping her drink. "We aren't even blood sisters, our dads are just the exact same flavour of cheesy." October smiled brighter as the girl introduced herself, glad to put a name to the face. "Nice to meet you. Biochem must be cool." She grinned, face flushing a little. a