Reflections.

[Matteo Lim]

Matteo was taking a walk. If his friends in NYC knew that, well, they’d probably laugh him out of the US. Walks were for sissies, for all they cared. But he needed it. He frowned, his usually happy face twisted up. How the heck did he end up here if neither of his parents could do magic, knew anything about magic, or even heard of this stuff. It was insane. From the little he learned in biology class, he knew that your genes came from your parents and your parents’ parents and whatever. So how he had the genes for magic, he didn’t know. Screwed up was what it was. He told his friends he’d be going to an international school in Asia. Hey, it was true! Well…not entirely, but it’d be better than getting ridiculed by them. He sighed. Wait until he got outta here. He’d be able to show them some real magic, and then they’d believe him. Except the only problem was that some stupid guy had told him that if he did magic outside of school, he got expelled.

He walked over to the lake, glancing at the water, still as a mirror’s surface. He ruffled up his hair a bit. It was getting too flat and he didn’t like that. He buttoned a button on his black vest, and then decided it didn’t look good and unbuttoned it again. He smiled at his reflection. It was alright. He could take it, but it definitely wasn’t one of his best days in terms of looks.

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

Lily had once again been heading for the cliffs. She'd no work to do, no other commitments, so going to the cliffs was the only thing that Lily found she could do with out being bored out of her mind. Today seemed different, for the first time she didn't want to go to the cliffs. She didn't feel like it. Lily took in a big deep breath of cool spring air. She liked the ground of the school in general. On cloudy days, hardly anyone was around and it made for quiet walks. Lily flattened out the edge of the skirt on the dress. The dress she was wearing, wasn't one that she tended to wear but it went well with her slim small figure and her long brown hair. Lily began to walk. She spotted a boy by the lake. Thinking that it could do her no harm to go see who it was and if maybe it could be a possible friend, since Lily was lacking in them. As she moved closer she noticed what the boy was doing.

"You look fine," Lily stated, with a hint of mocking in her voice. "And I always thought checking your reflection to see how you look was a girl thing. I seem to be wrong."

 

[Matteo Lim]

Matteo whipped around at the sound of a girl’s voice. There was a girl standing behind him in a dress. He started to turn red. “Ain’t a girl thing. I’m just checking…um…cause I thought I had something in my teeth.” He scolded himself right away. What was he doing? Getting all flustered because he was simply checking how he looked? No, he told himself. He gave the girl one of his trademark smiles. “And you’re looking great yourself too,” he beamed, trying to cover up for himself. Truth be told though, he did like her dress. It suited her. He gave her a bow. “Matteo Lim. Nice to meet you.”

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

Lily couldn't help but let out a little giggle at the boy's embarrassement. It was also good to see some caught in the act. Though really Lily wasn't too fuss about if boys wanted to look good or not. She'd been with boys that spent a lot of time on hair and knew sometimes better than her how to apply make up. But that was the dance industry, this was school. Lily gave a curt nod as thanks for his complement. It was nice of him to say so, even it was just to cover up. Lily returned the bow, before holding a hand out to the boy, for him to shake.

"Livia Delaney. It's nice to meet you too." Lily said "What brings you to the lake? I hope it wasn't just to use the lake as a mirror. Last time I checked there were mirrors inside the school"

 

[Matteo Lim]

Matteo stared at Livia's outstretched hand for a second and then broke into a broad smile. In NY, nobody even bothered with handshakes. Well except for the formal rich business people. In NYC, it was simply a nod of the head or a "pound it." He gave her hand a firm shake anyways.

"No of course not, I did not come out here to check myself out. Although the mirrors all seem to find me themselves." He grinned at his little joke. "I just came out here for...a walk. To sort stuff out in my head y'know?" he watched her suspiciously. "You don't think walks are weird do you?" The last thing he wanted now was for Livia to think he was weird.

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

Lily just shook her head. She didn't think walks were weird, she loved walks and found them quite normal. The people who walk. Lily was a big fan of walking. She smiled falsely to the boy. She didn't have a reason for being out of the school and while the boy hadn't asked Lily thought it would be better to have some thing to say, even though Lily seriously didn't want him to.

"No I dont't think it's weird. I like walks too." Lily said too. "I was out for a walk too."

 

[Matteo Lim]

Matteo gave an inwardly sigh of relief. He gestured generally in the direction of the lake. “Would you like to walk with me?” Even if he was a bit blunt at times, he could at least remember his manners. His mother dearest had made sure to drill that, if nothing else, into him from probably his birth. He began walking again, looking behind him to see if Livia was following. “So how’s school so far?”

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

Lily nodded reluctantly. She didn't really want to walk with the boy. She didn't want to be with anyone. Lily prefered to walk alone. But LIly knew it would be very impolite to say no. The boy might get the idea that Lily wasn't a very good person. She faked a smile and followed the boy. She didn't really want to talk, but she knew that the boy would and sure enough. He wanted to talk. Lily didn't really want to talk about school or anything, but she knew she couldn't stay silent forever and would eventually have to say something. There was a small silence, which Lily didn't feel like breaking.

"Terrible. I hate it here." Lily said, not holding back on the hate and distaste which sounded in her voice. "The grounds are the only thing I like. Are you?"

 

[Matteo Lim]

Matteo put his hands casually into the back pockets of his jeans. “Eh, it’s okay so far.” He wondered why she would hate it. Maybe she was clueless about all this, just like him. “It’s way different from where I’m from though, and it’s sorta weird. But yeah, the grounds are pretty awesome. More open space than I've ever seen before. Why do you hate it so much? It’s not that bad I guess.” He didn’t want to offend her or anything, but he wanted to know. It was a new thing for him, and although he wasn’t sure whether he liked it or not yet, he figured he’d have to suck it up and deal with it whether he did or not.

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

Lily knew that the boy like all others wondered why Lily would hate, what they called a magical school. Lily looked down at the ground they were walking on. Not really wanting to look at this boy, Lily didn't want to say why she hated the school. She didn't care what they thought, more about what they would do. Lily was a muggleborn. She didn't consider herself a witch. Lily was a Ballerina. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Why, I don't like this school is none of your buisness, Matteo." Lily said looking up and forward, still not looking to the boy. She didn't care about this boy and what he thought of her.

 

[Matteo Lim]

Matteo started to frown, but hid it. Persisting in his attempt to stay friendly, he gave a nonchalant grin. “Alright then, I won’t ask it.” A long silence followed his words, and he simply continued walking. He looked down at the brand new Nikes he’d gotten for Hogwarts, wondering if maybe, Livia had been forced to come here. She was different from all the other girls Matteo had ever met and knew, who jumped at the chance to talk to him. He wondered what she was thinking about; it seemed that with her, everything was unexpected. “So, uh…what do your parents think about you comin’ here? Mine pretty much think I’m a freak. My brother’s like the only one who doesn’t. O’course I haven’t told my friends yet.”

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

Lily didn't care that a silence followed what she had said. Silence was better. She prefered it to everything. She didn't really want to talk to this boy. But she was. She needed to pretend to be friendly. Lily finally looked to the boy, with neither a smile or a frown. The question wasn't one that Lily wanted to answer. She could feel that she'd have to bring about another silence. Which was in no way good. She didn't want to open up to this boy. So that really meant that she'd have to say next to nothing about it. Lily looked back to where they were heading.

"My parents were pleased." Lily said, not going into it. "Why would you tell your friends? You're gone now, do you really think they still care about you."

 

[Matteo Lim]

At this, Matteo frowned. "'Course they do. They look up to me." He grinned. "Except I dunno how lotsa them would react to this. Bet some of them would think I'm a loser. They're gonna call me every week, to keep me updated with what happ'ns at school." He shrugged. "Thing is my cell doesn't seem to get signal here." At that moment it hit him that of course, he wasn't getting signal. He was in New Zealand. He shook his head stupidly. "Well, of course it doesn't...I wasn't expecting it to." He shrugged. "I'll just make more friends here. Don't matter too much."

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

Lily couldn't help but find it funny that everyone at hogwarts was set on being friends and friendly. Lily was different. She just wanted the seven years to be over already. She just wanted to be able to go on. Start intense dance again and become the dancer she'd always planned on becoming. Lily gave a small sigh.

"I don't get any signal here at hogwarts either. My phone barely turns on." Lily said in a tone of agreement. "Life isn't always about friends."