Skipping the Yule Ball

[Estrella Drage]

((I know it says open, but I found someone to rp with so please pm to join. I would appreciate it greatly.))


Estrella was in an even more foul mood than usual, having nothing to do as she had completed her exams fully and efficiently. She hoped that she had done well, as she could expect nothing less of herself than top marks, both as a person and a Ravenclaw. She could not afford her grades to drop just because of her emotions, nor for the fact that she just wanted to leave the school and get away from everyone else.

She had no idea where her Christmas Vacation was going to go, nor where she was going to be taken. At this moment, she would do practically anything for an ounce of help.

She could hear the redundant and joyous music of the Yule Ball emanating from the floors below, not being able to help feeling a bit bitter about the whole thing. Deep inside, she wished that she could be there having fun with her friends, but on the service she had accepted that it would make her feel even worse.

Her anger was not too evident on her face, whimsical nothingness dominating her expression. She only had a day to go before she could go home, or as close to home that she could call it. She did not really have anywhere to call a home anymore.

Stopping and strolling over to a window, she breathed in the cool night air, closing her eyes in relaxation as she let the calm winds pass over her face and tussle her hair. Opening them, she observed the unusual lighting of the yard, falling to the lakefront, at this point being brought into deep thought.

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale was walking down the Second Floor Corridor getting ready to leave. He had his broom grasped firmly in his hand and his back pack slung over his left shoulder, since it was a shorter vacation he didn't need to bring his heavy chest home with him. Kalehad just finished saying his goodbyes to his closest friends who already seemed to be having a good time, Ford and Bruin both had dates to the ball this year and for once Kale was actually flying solo. He was feeling indifferent about the whole situation and wasn't sure whether to like it or hate it. Kale sighed. He didn't necessarily regret not participating in the Winter festivities, he was mainly looking forward to heading home early to spend break with his family and Kaela, he had been looking forward to that since he had invited her; Kale had really taking a liking in her since he had started writing to her almost daily.

With a slow stride he studdenly stopped in his tracks when he saw Estrella standing in the Corridor looking out the window. At this point this was the last person he wanted to run into. He wanted to start out his break good, he still wasn't completely sure if she hated him or not and didn't really want to find out. Since the last time Kale had bumped into Estrella it wasn't sunshine and rainbows, they got into a yelling match and she slapped him...hard. He had to admit, she had a painful palm. Kale rubbed his cheek thinking about their last encounter, hoping that this wouldn't be a reoccurence. He didn't know whether to stop and talk to her or keep on walking. To get her attention he let out an audible cough as he walked down the corridor about 15 feet before approaching her.

Kale looked at Estrella for a moment, hoping that it wouldn't spark something in her. He didn't hate her, but he could understand if she had opposite feelings.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella was snapped out of her reverie with someone else's cough, surprised as she looked to see that the person who had interrupted her deep thought was none other than Kale Thomas, the last person she expected to see. With his outgoing personality she had fully expected him to have a date to the Yule Ball, and she was curious as to why he was not at the festivities.

Her expression mixed and unsure, she looked to him in greeting, barely blinking. "Skipping?" she drawled in a rather blank tone, unsure how to feel about this situation. She still shouldn't be mad, she thought she had gotten over it, yet a tiny sliver bitterness was wedged into her heart, enough to be significant but not obvious to the rest of the world. Her dark eyes were full of curiosity as she looked to him, not knowing what to say. She herself had considered leaving for home early, but with her dad's track record he had suggested that it would be much easier for him to pick her up at the train station.

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale took a moment to look Estrella over, no claws were out yet; that was good. He bit his bottom lip and shrugged his shoulders at her question. "Yeah, I guess you can say that.." he said while adjusting the back pack on his shoulder, feeling a bit of awkwardness between his Ex and himself. "I'm heading home early." Kale added, not sure what to say to her exactly. It was weird suddenly talking to her after avoiding Estrella for monthes. Kale scratched his chin, "Why aren't you at the ball?" He inquired, trying to make an extra effort to refrain from talking to her like an ass. She didn't give him any reason to right now.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella had avoided Kale for a long time, and she was quite unsure what to think of hearing his voice again. Her voice breaking a bit, her tone finally receded to quiet and smooth as she replied, "I see. Could you tell your family I say hi?" Even if she and Kale had broken up, she still liked his family, especially Morgan.

She shrugged her shoulders, looking back to him with a raised eyebrow. "The same could be asked of you. But as for me, I figured it'd be pretty boring without a date."

She was not sure what to say after that, as it had been thrown into a really awkward playing field.

 

[Kale Thomas]

"Yeah, I can do that.." Kale said with a nod. He had known that his family had enjoyed having her over whenever it was break and it made him curious to what they would think of him bring Kaela home, especially how Mindy would react to that. Since she had taken a fascination in Estrella since the first day she had met her.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and cocked his head to the side as she explain herself, "I just didn't really feel like asking anyone.." Kale replied to her comment and added, "Don't girls like to going to dances with eachother as dates nowadays, in groups or whatever?" Kale inquired, knowing that she had plently of friends that she could have hung out with instead.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella could only nod to Kale, adding, "I appreciate it." She had really clicked as friends with Morgan, and Mindy had been clinging to her like a monkey the last time she had been there. It was kind of sad that it was unlikely she would be seeing any of Kale's family anytime soon, as they were no longer dating.

Estrella shrugged. "Same here. Not really any point to it." Looking out the window, she replied, "I don't think a dance is relevant enough to get hyped about." The truth was, she had been struggling with her relationships with friends lately, at least, in her perspective.

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale leaned against the wall and set down his pack on the stone floor, not minding the friendly conversation with Estrella. Yeah, they were Ex's, but it didn't mean that they had to give eachother the cold shoulder whenever they saw one another. Kale zipped up his coat a bit, noting that it was getting chillier, Winter was definitely in their prescense. Kale listened to what Estrella had commented about the Yule Ball and nodded, he remembered how nervous he was when he had asked her to go with him the previous year. Remembering how gah gah he was for her. Kale drew his attention out the window across from him for a moment and returned his attention back at Estrella.

"Soo" Kale said, searching for something they could possibly talk about without feeling awkward. He searched through ideas. "You staying at school for the holiday?" Kale inquired casually, curious to what her plans might be.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella smiled weakly at Kale, which immediately shrunk back into its normal blank state, not entirely minding this conversation. "No," she replied, figuring that it wasn't lying, she was just skipping over where she was truly going. Kind of hoping that he would skip over asking her where exactly sure he was going but not expecting him to at all, she added, "And you? What are your plans for the Holidays?"

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale looked down at the ground for a brief moment, wondering whether or not he should tell her who exactly he was having over for the holiday. Kaela McIlvoy. He liked Kaela a lot...a bit too much for not seeing her in almost an entire year. Kale looked at Estrella, "I dunno yet really, I'm having a friend over. I think everyone is actually going to be home again this year, which is different." he said, hoping that she wouldn't ask him any further questions about his 'friend' that was going to be staying with him. Kaela was one of Estrella's best friends at one point and he woun't know how to tell her that. Plus, Kale and Estrella were actually having a civil conversation and he didn't want it to end with a sour feeling. "You got anything exciting planned?" he inquired, wondering exactly who she would be staying with.

 

[Estrella Drage]

"Oh," Estrella replied, not even asking who Kale was going to be staying with. That wasn't really even relevant at this time, so it didn't occur to her to pry. She didn't want to get too close anyways.

Crossing her arms over her chest, shivering in the chilly winter air, she replied, able to see her wispy breath as she spoke, "You could say that. I'm not sure where I"m but I'm going to get help with something."

Hoping that would not spark too many questions, she looked back at Kale, surpressing the feelings that she still felt inside.

 

[Kale Thomas]

"Cool" Kale said, not really bothering to get any information out of her. He figured that she would just be staying with her grandfather like in the summer. Kale noted that she looked cold, she was shivering a bit. He being a gentleman he was, it was in his nature to feel the need to offer Estrella his jacket, Kale really didn't want to send off the wrong message by offering but he did anyway. "Hey, would you like one of my coats? I have an extra in my bag." he said casually gesturing to his bag, it not really meaning much to him. He couldn't help it that his mother brought him up to always treat a girl with respect, even thought he had his moments when he could be a real ass.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Sighing quietly in relief that Kale wasn't asking her any questions about who she was staying with, as it would be entirely uncomfortable telling him, no less lying about something like that. Biting her lip, she shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll be fine." She didn't want to appear too b1tchy, but she couldn't afford to let Kale get close. Not again. Wearing his coat would be too awkward. It was awkward enough standing here and talking to him, though while it did not feel like old times, it was still nice.

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale shrugged his shoulders, not feeling any reason to pester her into borrowing a jacket if she was cold. Honestly, he had lost all feelings for her in "that" sort of way. He looked at Estrella, he could tell that he had hurt her. It made him feel guilty for a split second, he hated that feeling. Guilt. He shook his head to get the thought out of his head, "Alright.." he said while forgetting completely sidestepping the issue. "So...quidditch has pretty much been a joke this year hasn't it?" Kale stated attempting to make things less awkward. When in doubt, talk about quidditch was Kale's motto. It was true though, this year there wasn't any play on the feild which was driving him nutters.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Glad that Kale had moved on to a more relateable and less awkward topic, she nodded her head, replying quickly, "I agree. Personally, I think it's been a joke ever since the beginning. Courtney did mention practice after break, although I doubt our school is ever going to host a game by the time I'm out of it." She shrugged her shoulders, and she added, "It's crazy to think I'm halfway done here."

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale nodded his head fervently agreeing with her statement. It had been a really crappy playing season. "I haven't even heard anything from Ford or Sophia about there being any games after break..." he sighed, rolling his eyes he added, "Quidditch here sucks."

He hadn't really thought of how things would be once all of the older kids were to graduate. Would he keep contact with Bruin and Ford. He didn't like thinking about that stuff when it wasn't as far away as it felt.

He was beginning to think of what had happened a couple of months ago, at The Three Broomsticks. Kale looked at Estrella and bit his bottom lip, his blue eyes softening, "You know...I'm sorry for what I said the last time I ran into you." he said slowly, "It wasn't fair of me to get all up in your business like that." Kale said, knowing that she deserved an apology, even though it took him a lot to swallow his pride and do the right thing in the situation.

 

[Estrella Drage]

"It's a real shame," Estrella replied, leaning against the wall casually, feeling as if she were talking to an old friend and not an ex-boyfriend. She had gotten over most of the bitterness, at least, she thought it had. "I agree. I haven't managed to get out on the pitch a lot either. Been bogged down by schoolwork." Indeed, she had taken on everything she could to forget everyone else, and while it hadn't been an imposible task it had been incredibly time consuming.

The feeling of casualness was nearly killed, however, as Kale brought up the Three Broomsticks. It bothered her a bit, but she put on that it didn't, shrugging her shoulders and sighing quietly, "no, I suppose not. I apologize for behaving the way I did; you had a right to be angry."

She looked to him, adding, "There're not many people for me to turn to anymore, Kale, and there's a problem I can't fix without his help. I needed some advice."

She had meant to keep this from Kale, but she couldn't help being somewhat honest with him.

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale accepted her apology with a curt nod, knowing that it was sincere coming from her. He stood up straighter with his shoulders rolled back to listen to her, he was really tall and lanky for his age, almost reaching 6 foot at age 14 (or is it 13?..). He listened closely to her comment about things not going well for her and having no one to turn to. Kale couldn't really relate, he always had someone that he could talk to if he needed it. "I was just confused on how quickly you gained trust with your Da.." he said, his Irish accent becoming much more audible at the word 'Da'. Kale wasn't angry with her, he couldn't be, he really did care about Estrella and was concerned for her. Kale would never tell her that though, well, not now.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella could only nod, the misty expression in her eyes disappearing to an eerie calmness as she spoke. She was quite surprised by how tall Kale had gotten, considering he was nearly a year younger than her. She was convinced that she was done growing, herself, and ultimately now felt like a dwarf next to the guys at her school. And she could just forget her dad or her grandfather. She definitely had not inherited those genes.

She smirked a bit at Kale's Irish accent; he had always said 'Da' instead of 'Dad.' Kaela was like that too. She hadn't written to Kaela in a long time.

"That's understandable," she started slowly, "Although I'm not sure I trust him.. It's just- Acceptance, I guess." She looked to Kale to see his reaction; she knew that not many people would be happy with her with her recent decisions, especially considering that she was going to be spending break with the very man who had caused so much havoc in the past.

((He should be thirteen going on fourteen.

It's been really fun, but I gotta head to bed. Night, ttyl!))

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale instantly arched a brow at Estrella's latest statement, his head cocking to the right. "Huh...?" he managed to utter a bit louder than he had expected. His eyes locked contact with hers, as if he were trying to get into her head to piece things together, "Are you headed in that direction, Estrella?" Kale inquired, referring to the Death Eaters.

(Sorry posts keep on getting shorter and shorter, I'm getting tired. If I don't write back right away I signed off.)

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella was more than a bit surprised by Kale's last retort, not having expected this. "No!" she stammered, more loudly than she had meant to. "It's not like that at all!" Her cheeks flushed a deep red, she looked at Kale in disbelief; how could he accuse her of something like that?

Swallowing hard, she inquired quietly, "Why would you think of me that way?" She didn't seem like she was headed that direction to other people, did she? Was Kale the only one? She had a rather uncomfortable feeling that she did not, a more than a little bit on the paranoid side. Am I headed that way? No, it was a ridiculous thought.



((It's the same with me when I'm tired, no worries. I should be sleeping now too, that's why mine was so short.))

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale gave Estrella a weak look at her sudden display, "No, not really..." he said not really caring much, he shrugged his shoulders while cocking his head to the side. Kale quickly looked down at his watch, he had lost track of time talking with her. Picking up his back pack from off the floor and his broom that was leaning against the stone wall he gave Estrella a small smile, something friendly, he didn't want her to get the wrong message. "Well, I've gotta head out of here..." he said while giving her a pat on the shoulder and turning to walk away, "You have a good break and take care of yourself." Kale said with a curt nod and a quick wave.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella could only nod, a little disappointed that he had been so quick to dismiss her. Staring after him for a bit with her dark eyes, she mumbled, "Bye," in a ghost of a whisper, turning down the corridor, trying to push the incident out of her mind. Dwelling on Kale would not be good for her.