How We Grow Something

[Sophia Night]

Sophia stared blankly at the bundle of roses that had just been shoved in her arms. She had been so caught up in the nice part of receiving her sister's rose that the second part of the attached note had fallen beneath her notice - that was, until she had read it again. Her own deliveries..? At the time, she thought Rory had been making less sense than was normal even for her. And then someone had come in asking to see Sophia in the corridor outside the common room. If she had been nervous before, the feeling only increased once she saw the harried looking older boy waiting for her. He said something about deliveries, and forgetting, and owls, before proceeding to push a bunch of roses at her and disappear again. Sophia stared after him in stunned silence, and then turned her attention to the flowers that were now in her care. It was beginning to make slightly more sense now - this was just like Assassin. Rory had signed her up without even telling her she had done so.

Intimidated by the responsibility of the task, Sophia wondered for a moment how it would be best for her to begin. She had to find eight people somewhere within this school, and she wondered if she would ever get it done. She supposed she would just have to try, and see what happened. Scanning the corridor, Sophia picked someone who looked helpful to ask first. "Excuse me, sorry, but do you know where I could find any of the people on this list?" she said, proceeding to read off each of the eight names.

 

[Ainsley Lynch]

Reflecting upon her decisions, Ainsley came to the realisation that spending part of the day down in the Wild Patch had not been her wisest choice ever. She wanted to look nice for the dance tonight with Amber, and now there was dirt on her hands, and knees, under her fingernails and somehow even matted into her hair. This was a disgrace. With plenty of time left before the dance Ainsley packed up her tools and made her way back up to the castle to take a sorely-needed shower before it was time for the dance. As she was making her way into the common room, she paused as she overheard something that sounded familiar. There was a young girl reading off names to someone, and one of them had sounded like her own. "Excuse me, did you say Ainsley Lynch?" She asked, glancing at the roses the girl was carrying. She had already gotten one from Amber earlier, could another friend have sent one to her?

 

[Sophia Night]

Unfortunately, the older student hadn't been able to answer her question, but Sophia didn't have to feel disappointed by it for long. She turned at the sound of the new voice, her hopes rising - only for her eyes to widen in startled dismay. As she took in the sight of the wild-looking giant in front of her, Sophia had to remain very firm in her manners not to step back in alarm. She wasn't a stranger to dirt by any means, but it was one of the things she absolutely never wanted to see outside of its designated context... and this girl had managed to get it in her hair. How, Sophia couldn't say, nor did she particularly want to hazard a guess. She almost wished she could say that she had made a mistake to avoid talking to this girl, but that would be a horribly rude thing to do. Mustering an attempt at a cheerful smile, which she hoped looked very convincing, Sophia nodded and began looking over her bunch of flowers carefully. "I did! I'm Sophia; I have a rose to deliver to you." Finding the bloom in question she separated it carefully from the others, and then held it out towards the older girl. "I'm sorry it's arrived a little late in the day - there was a, um, small delay." It seemed a safe enough blanket explanation that wouldn't speak ill of anybody.

Spoiler: Note

You are a really interesting person and I am looking forward to becoming better friends with you!
Flavio

 

[Ainsley Lynch]

"Oh!" Ainsley exclaimed in delight, stepping over to the younger girl happily. She had already gotten a rose from Amber this morning, and she couldn't help but wonder who else would send her one. She gave the younger girl a friendly smile as she took the rose, not wanting to be rude. "Thank you so much!" Ainsley said happily, opening the message. She smiled warmly as she read it, pleased to have gotten such a nice message from Flavio.

 

[Sophia Night]

As the tall girl loomed over her, Sophia felt very proud of herself for keeping the smile fixed on her face... but as the smile was returned, she instantly felt silly for being so alarmed by her recipient's appearance. The older girl looked genuinely happy to have received a rose, and Sophia felt her own spirits lift in response. "You're welcome," she managed to pipe up, successfully ignoring the dirt and tangles in the girl's hair to look straight into her face with a more heartfelt smile this time. "Thank you for, um..." The reaction to respond to the other girl in kind had been instinctual, and Sophia fell short with an embarrassed pause as she realised she didn't actually have anything to thank the other girl for that really made sense. "Um, I mean, I hope you have a good day! I have to continue delivering, but, um... Happy Valentine's Day!" she said, waving to the girl with her free hand as she quickly escaped down the corridor.