Open I Spy

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey was definitely not jealous.

After all, jealousy was such an ugly thing, and Audrey was far too pretty to be caught up in ugly emotions. But, if she was jealous, she figured she had every right to be, since her two best friends happened to be here at the ball together. And were probably up to some kind of prank that she wasn't involved in. Then they'd probably go on a date and Audrey would have to fight the urge to puke if either of them talked to her about it, not to mention deal with the weird ugly feeling in her stomach that was, again, definitely not jealousy.

So, she wasn't going to be caught up in sulking about it, but she was going to sit at a table feeling a little weird and alone. It wasn't like she could go hang out with Teddy's friends - they didn't think much of her and it wasn't like she thought very much of them. And she hadn't seen Kit or Bellamy around for someone in her year that she wouldn't mind talking to. Audrey tried not to spend her time craning her neck to see what Lucy and Teddy were up to - after all, she was totally not bothered by them and definitely not jealous - and instead looked around at the festivities, seeing if she could pick up some gossip. She did spot some Hufflepuff boy - one she remembered pranking, actually - get rejected by a girl and what she presumed was the girl's boyfriend, so at least that was interesting. Something to keep her attention that wasn't her selfishly feeling left out, at least.

 

[Santiago Torres]

Santiago was in a worse mood than usual. He had just heard the news his dad's family would be spending the holidays in New Zealand visiting his uncle this year so he wouldn't have a chance to go home, either home, at all. He had tried pleading to his mom but she was no help and said it had been decided a while ago. Of course he was the last to know. He reluctantly made it to the ball knowing June would probably find some way to hold it over him if he skipped it. He thought about finding Eloise but knew they'd likely be together and he wanted to avoid that headache today. Instead Santiago walked around the hall with his hands deep in his pockets looking for an empty seat. He stopped when he spotted a younger Ravenclaw girl and he was pretty sure she was one of their beaters, and she looked as miserable as he felt. "Don't you look festive." he said as he sat down across from her, making sure to keep some distance.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

It didn't help that Audrey wasn't going home for Christmas, either, feeling a bit like her parents and her friends were leaving her out. Naturally, she knew she was too brilliant to be forgotten about entirely - though a part of her figured she had to do more to avoid this in future. She was surprised to see a kind of cute boy sit on the other side of the table, one she vaguely recognized as one of Gryffindor's beaters. She tried to put on a big smile, but it came off poorly and she let her face fall back to its mild scowl. "It should have been a beach party," she said, a little petulantly. "You don't look like you're having fun either."

 

[Santiago Torres]

Santiago almost laughed as the girl smiled and dropped it immediately, almost. "I'm not." he replied simply to her statement. It wasn't like he was hiding his displeasure and it was refreshing to find someone else who wasn't holding back either. "I wouldn't have minded that. I'm not even from here and I think a snowy Christmas is weird." he said, looking up briefly at the ceiling with it's snow. "So what's ruining your night?" he asked.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey sighed. Her parents always told her there was no point in whining, but her parents had also ditched her for the break to go on a cruise so they didn't really matter. "My two best friends are here together. And I think they're pranking people, which is my thing, and it's like totally rude that they didn't even ask me," she huffed, slumping a little on the spot and blowing a strand of hair out of her face. She knew full well she was being childish, but at the same time, seeing it just weirdly hurt and she didn't fully understand why. "What about you? Or is it just the general suckiness of the dance?"

 

[Santiago Torres]

Santiago leaned back in his chair and listened to the girl complain. He could see where she was coming from but he was quick to wave off her concern. "Who cares if they're pranking people? What's stopping you from pulling something yourself?" he asked. "To me it just sounds like you're being uncreative." he added dismissively. "General suckiness is a good place to start." he sighed. "I'm just not looking forward to break. My parents are being cruel and unfair." Santiago said vaguely and being a bit more dramatic than he needed to be.