Open On My Own

[Emily Hastings]

Emily might be rebelling just a bit. She had wanted to be here with Sydney. It was their last dance. And again, like pretty much every time ever, Emily was alone. She would usually have settled in the corner with a book and a nice dress. But not today. Today, she was determined to be active. She had dressed up a little differently than normal as well, including a nice flower crown to top the cheesy effect. She had been dancing since she got here, bouncing from partner to partner, trying to escape the way her heart ached every time she caught that familiar flash of black on the side of the room. She knew exactly what it was, who it was. Her pain was slowly turning to anger, anger she didn't know what to do with. She tried to push it aside, twirling and spinning and trying to act like nothing mattered.

 

[Daintree Vaskevold]

Daintree knew there could’ve been people he could’ve asked to the dance, but in the end he had decided to go alone, made the choice that he didn’t need to go with anyone and would enjoy just being there alone. Daintree wasn’t sure he’d have any fun, but it would be good to finish his school celebrations, just on his own. Relationships were overrated and he knew that no relationship at this point would provide him with anything. He put the finishing touches on his suit and then headed out of the room and to the great hall. After the yuleball had been made up differently, Daintree had half expected that he would end up in a valentines dance that was styled differently but it wasn’t. He made his way to the drinks table and grabbed himself some pumpkin juice. It was as he did so that he spotted a friend and walked over to her. "Hey,"​

 

[Emily Hastings]

After a little while, Emily was feeling a bit parched. Abandoning her current partner on the floor, she walked over to the drinks. As she approached, Daintree approached her, and she couldn't help but smile at him. "Well, hello stranger," she greeted. "Here by yourself?" She asked, looking around a moment to see if he had a date. It didn't appear so. Perfect, that meant she could steal his attention all she wanted.

 

[Daintree Vaskevold]

Daintree gave a little nod, "Decided to go solo for once, what about you?" Daintree had heard what had happened between Emily and Sydney and awkwardly as he was friends with both he wasn't sure he should get too in the middle. He thought he prefered Emily over Sydney but Sydney was a bad person in his mind to not have in your corner so he wasn't exactly going to pick sides in it. ​

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily shifted her flower crown. It was a bit ridiculous, of course, but she was making a bit of a statement. She held her hands out to Daintree. "I'm dancing," she dodged his question entirely. "You should too, come on. Last chance, and all that," she gave him a coy smile. She needed a friend tonight. Eric and Minnie were too caught up in each other, and she doubted she could really talk to them anyway. What was she supposed to say? 'Yeah my i-don't-know-if-she's-still-my-girlfriend blindly hates Eric and we aren't talking because of it?' She was sure that would go over really well.

 

[Daintree Vaskevold]

Daintree gave a little knowing noise as Emily seemed to dodge the question. "Okay," he replied with a little nod. He took her hands and slowly danced with each other. He wasn't sure he wanted to ask about it but he was sure that prolonged silence would eventually become awkward, though for now he was content to just dance with Emily, at the very least it also took his mind off things too. Something Daintree always welcomed. ​

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily was content to dance with Daintree. It was comforting, familiar, and after the song ended she was almost tempted to ask him for another one. She sighed, and moved back towards the punch. "I've never been one to avoid confrontation." She told him. "I assume you've heard Sydney and I are... well, complicated right now." She got a couple of drinks and offered one out to Daintree.

 

[Daintree Vaskevold]

Daintree moved with Emily to the punch and though he hadn't asked, she gave him the information anyway. "I heard, what exactly happened?" he asked, more out of his own curiousity, admittedly, he hadn't pictured Sydney as much of a....date...love...person so he was curious to know what had caused it's downfall in the end. ​

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily sighed, finding a table nearby and settling down. Once Daintree had joined her, she spoke, tracing the lip of her cup absently with her finger. "Because I talk to Eric Holland sometimes." She replied easily. "I've had the same three... friends, per say, for all my time here at Hogwarts. Friends is a bit presumptuous, of course, I can't speak for how others see me. But I've always spoken to you, Minnie Calida, and Eric Holland." Emily sighed. "Apparently Sydney never bothered knowing these very simple things about me. I wasn't hiding anything. But apparently, Eric put a beetle down her collar or something in first or second year, and she hates him so much that even speaking to him is a horrible offense."

Emily shook her head, wrapping both hands around her cup and looking sad. "I thought... I don't know what I thought. That we had something? But she's been so petty, and childish. She was furious and cut off Samantha Jacobs when Sam started dating my cousin, Ren Lockwood. Something about people choosing romance over friendship. It's quite the double standard, isn't it? She claims to love you for who you are, for all your weirdness and your strong mind, but then becomes infuriated as soon as I refuse to bend to her will." Emily looked out over the dance floor, sadness in her eyes. "Sydney is a strong, beautiful, brilliant woman. But she can also be petty, childish, and cruel. I never asked her to change who she was. I suppose... I don't know, I suppose I just thought... she might care for me even a little, even half as much as I love.. as I care for her."

 

[Daintree Vaskevold]

Daintree was a little surprised by the revelation but, he had always known about the distain that Sydney had for the gryffindor. If he was right, Sydney held a distain for most people but it seemed to be extremely harsh towards a few gryffindors. He felt somewhat honoured to be on Emily's only friends list but it was quickly washed away in listening to the story. He could agree that it was a little of a double standard and that Sydney was strong and somewhat brilliant, but she was stubborn and to a degree of apathetic towards her classmates that did boredline on hate. "Hate is as strong an emotion as love, perhaps, somewhat deterimentally for you both stronger than love," Daintree glanced over the hall, spotting Sydney stood with Simon Thorne of all people. "What are you going to do?"​

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily sighed, shutting her eyes. "I don't know, honestly. Neither of us have officially ended the relationship, but it may as well be over. Sydney... well, she's convinced I've betrayed her. She refuses to speak to me. Even if I tried to renounce Eric, which I won't do, she'll most likely never let this go. Sydney Townsend has never been known to let go of a grudge," Emily picked up her drink and took a long sip. "Whatever my feelings for Sydney may be, I'm afraid I'm just going to have to let her go. Unless by some miracle Sydney decides to let go of her pride and act like a mature adult, there's never going to be a place for me in her life."