Old School Week Not Crying

[Van Voclain]

It had to be a joke. Van couldn't believe her dad would write to tell her he was kicking her and her mum out. She'd known it would happen eventually, but... well, she hadn't expected it to be this harsh. He hadn't even written 'Dear Van'. It was just 'Van'. Her mum had done it again - poisoned everyone against her by mere association. She balled up the letter and threw it across the owlery, watching as it bounced to a halt near the top of the stairs. Just don't cry. She wasn't crying. Not much, anyway.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah had been making his way up to the owlery, a little surprised when he reached the top and a balled up paper landed at his feet. He casually picked it up, stepping into the owlery and looking at the girl already inside. "This yours?"

 

[Van Voclain]

Van jumped to her feet, rubbing her damp cheek on her shoulder. "Yes. No. None of your business," she said. She plunged a hand into her robe pocket to grab her wand - and found nothing but air. She'd left it in her dormitory. B*******. Advancing on the boy, she held out her palm. "Give that back."

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah raised his eyebrows when the girl affirmed it to be hers before denying it and eventually holding out her hand. "Sure." He said with a shrug as he handed it back. "Didn't think it would be so important since it's all curled up."

 

[Van Voclain]

Van snatched the balled up letter before the boy could change his mind. "It's not. It's just... a history essay," she said, turning around so that he couldn't see her eyes filling with tears again.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Zay frowned when the girl turned around. “I don’t think a bad grade for a subject as boring as history is something you should get upset about..”

 

[Van Voclain]

Van sat down on the stone window and sniffed. Would she have to go back to England? She didn't want to move schools. She liked it here. "Will you get off my case?" she snapped. Then suddenly she deflated. "Sorry. It's not an essay. It's a letter from my dad. He's a complete a***hole. Did you come up here to send a letter, or what?"

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah threw his hands up in defeat, ready to turn around and leave the girl be when she suddenly apologized. "That sucks." He replied simply. "If it's that bad, maybe you should just burn it or something. Get some satisfaction out of ruining it." He offered before patting his pockets and grinning sheepishly when he realized he had forgotten his letter. "Ah, crap."

 

[Van Voclain]

The letter was only half of Van's worries. Without her dad's money... how would she and her mum cope? It would soon be back to going to bed cold and hungry, and it would be worse this time, because she knew what it was like to eat well. "Yeah, good idea," she said, watching him pat his pockets. She wondered if he was pretending to have forgotten his letter and was really coming up here to hide. "Do you know any spells to set fire to something?"

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah grinned when the girl agreed setting fire to the letter was a good idea. "Yeah, uh, Incendio, right?" He said, wondering if maybe he should pay more attention in class. "Not sure if this would be the right place to do it though.." He added in a rare moment of actually using his brain.

 

[Van Voclain]

"Yeah, right," Van said, as if she'd heard of that spell before. "Why not? We're not going to set fire to the whole owlery. Just do it in the middle of the floor. Look." She got up, swept a gap in the feathers and nesting material with her foot, and tossed the scrunched up letter into the centre. "See? It's fine." She was, perhaps, slightly underestimating the strength of Incendio.

 

[Professor Elvera Le Fey]

elvera was in the north tower when she heard a commotion in the owlery. she stepped into the room to see a boy and a girl talking. "Is everything okay in here?" she asked.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

"Yeah, right." Isaiah repeated the girl's words, emphasizing the latter to argue that he was, in fact, right. Surely, he would be able to remember a simple spell. Even if his grades were terrible. "Okay, so, go ahead." He nodded towards the letter on the ground, head snapping to the side when someone else walked in. "Yup, yes, totally fine." Zay smiled innocently at the professor, taking a step to stand besides the girl and casually kicking the letter away in the process.

 

[Van Voclain]

Van had never even heard of Incendio. If she tried to cast it, there really was a good chance the entire owlery would go up in flames. She opened her mouth to insist he do it for her just as Professor Le Fey came through the door. Crap - the letter. Van looked down, only to watch the crumpled ball bounce out of her reach. Double crap. "Um - yeah. We're fine," she echoed, trying to keep her eyes focused on Professor Le Fey. "He was helping me... write a letter."