Closed Mistakes May Have Been Made

[Ren Lockwood]

So Ren was easily distracted. He couldn't help it! He was still just a kid, after all, and he tended to get caught up in cat naps and improving his art. He had been wandering what to do after school- Lily would be graduating soon, and the thought was still so strange to him. But the mess that had been him forgetting to ask the girl he fancied to the Yule Ball (In his defense he had forgotten about the ball entirely), well, he knew he had some work to do to make things up to her. He'd been slipping her little gifts, nothing really big but fun things like pretty trinkets or flowers. He had another one today, a simple silver charm bracelet he'd found over the holiday and forgotten he had. He was hurrying through the halls, hoping for a glimpse of Sam, when he spotted someone else instead. "Hi!" He greeted cheerfully, bounding over. "Have you seen Sam?"

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney was as conflicted as ever to be back at school. On one hand, she had the freedom of being away from her parents and their bourgeois lifestyle, but on the other hand, she had to deal with the school's own population of idiots and even worse this year, her little sister. Pushing her way through the crowd as she tried to cross the entrance hall, Sydney nearly growled under her breath when someone interrupted her, turning to stare down Ren with disinterest. "If I had, why would I tell you? What do you want to see her for," She said hotly, crossing her arms.

 

[Ren Lockwood]

Ren hesitated as Sydney seemed to be angry with him. He was sure he couldn't guess as to why, but he was Rose's older brother. Angry girls didn't really faze him. "I have a present for her," He replied simply, smiling and holding up the small box to show to Sydney. "I was hoping to find her and give it to her," He ran his other hand through his hair. "How have you been, by the way? It seems like forever since we spoke," He asked with another smile.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney rolled her eyes, giving Ren her best condescending look. "Why do you have a present for her, it's not her birthday," She said disapprovingly, spending a moment to check when Samantha's birthday actually was in her head and realizing she wasn't sure, but at least she was fair confident it wasn't now. "You can just give people stuff randomly, it's weird," She added for emphasis. "That was on purpose," Sydney said, rolling her eyes a second time when Ren mentioned it'd been awhile since they'd spoken. She wasn't sure she could be much more obvious about her dislike for Ren, but he was apparently too dense still to pick up on it. Sydney wasn't even sure why she disliked him to much, though she imagined his obliviousness was a big part of it. She had no time for idiots, especially idiots who bothered Samantha.

 

[Ren Lockwood]

Ren chuckled. "I know it isn't." He put the little box into his pocket. "I just got her something because it made me think of her and giving her little gifts lets her know she's important to me," He explained, unfazed by Sydney's rough attitude. She was a lot like Rose, though he couldn't tell if she was secretly soft like his sister or not. He noted the second eye roll. "Well, I know you don't like me, Sydney," He stated plainly, "But I think we could be friends, if you gave me a chance," He offered, though he was sure she would shoot it him down.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney scoffed at Ren's explanation. She doubted Samantha was the type to be wooed by dumb little trinkets all the time. It anything she was probably too nice to tell Ren it was annoying. "Giving people stuff doesn't make them like you," She said, crossing her arms and eying the box as Ren put it away. If he was going to keep bothering Samantha with things like that all the time and making her talk to him, then maybe Sydney could do something about it. "Fine, how about I'll give your little gift to Samantha next time I see her. As a sign of friendship," Sydney said, holding out her hand for the gift. She had zero actual interest in befriending someone like Ren, but at least this way she could vet whatever annoying gifts he was planning on sending Samantha and decide if it was actually worth her time or not. And if not, then Ren didn't need to know Sydney wasn't passing them on.

 

[Ren Lockwood]

Ren smiled. "You don't give gifts to people to make them like you," He bit back a laugh. "You give them gifts so they know that you like them," He told her. She really was a lot like Rose. He hesitated a moment as she offered to give the gift to Sam for him. "Really?" He blinked, looking at her doubtfully. "That's... a dramatic change. And out of nowhere." He almost thought about it, but shrugged and smiled happily. He knew she was just a secret softie. "Okay," He agreed, taking the gift and holding it out to her. "I'm glad we're friends now," He told her sincerely. "Since we're friends, let's have lunch together. It'll give us a chance to talk," He smiled brightly, looking at her with hopeful eyes.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney felt her lip curl as Ren spoke, but tried to push the reaction back down. She didn't like the implication that Ren was laughing at her, or that he seemed to think he knew more about people than she did. "I don't know, I've always been a big fan of telling people what I think. Much simpler," She said haughtily.

For a moment, it almost seemed like Ren wasn't going to buy her offer, which was surprisingly astute for someone Sydney thought was so dense, but he passed over the little box and Sydney took it with a tight smile, not trusting herself to say anything until she actually had the present in question safely in her possession. "Well, Samantha clearly values her time with you, so for her sake I can play nice," She said, keeping the tight smile in place as she tucked the box away. If she had her way Samantha would never know it existed. Sydney'd been ready to simply turn away when Ren offered they get lunch, the idea making her baulk. But as much as she despised Ren, talking more to him might yield more opportunities to defer him away from Samantha, so perhaps it was an opportunity to take advantage of. Instead, Sydney simply nodded stiffly, reminding herself about the importance of keeping your enemies close.