Closed The Other Side

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia Manning had never had a lot of friends. Her shy and nervous nature made it difficult for her to connect with people, and growing up she had often watched enviously as other kids formed tight-knit friend groups. On top of that, the girl was an only child. She had cousins close to her age, but no siblings. She couldn't remember getting into a serious fight with any other children growing up, as the girl tended to try her best to keept he peace. But now Analei was angry with her, and it was weighing on her mind. She hadn't actually done anything to make Analei angry, not directly. She was angry simply because Emilia was friends with Jacob Kingsley, something that still confused her. The boy was nice, and had been her friend since their first year. Analei was nice too, and had always been a good roommate. Why didn't the two like each other? Analei hadn't really said anything about that, besides saying that Jacob had shoved Arvel. Could it be about just that? Emilia didn't think so. But now Analei wasn't talking to her, and she didn't know what to do about that. But the whole situation was making her nevous. It had taken some time for the Hufflepuff to gather her courage and seek out Jacob, but that was her plan for today. A part of her was worried that the same thing would happen again. That Jacob would be angry with her for spending time with Analei. But she also had to get some answers about what was happening. The uncertainty of the situation was making her anxious, and maybe if she tried her best she could make things better between the two. She just needed to know what had happened first.

She had considered approaching Jacob at breakfast at the Gryffindor table, but then had decided against it because Analei would probably see that and be more angry with her. Besides, speaking without anyone else around was perhaps a better idea. So the girl had nervously asked a few classmates if they knew were Jacob was, and was eventually told he was outside. The Gryffindor boy seemed to like being outside a lot, she often ran into him there. She spotted him and approached, her anxiety building. Analei had claimed Jacob was not a nice person, even saying he was probably using Emilia. She hadn't believed that, but it did nothing to ease her nerves about the situation. The girl took a deep breath as she waved at Jacob from a small distance. "Hi Jacob..." She said as she neared him. "How are you doing?" She figured it was best to greet him normally before telling him why she had come to find him. Maybe he was in a bad mood and if that was the case it might be a bad idea to ask him now.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob was in a better mood than he had been of late, and he counted that all to his friends. He was talking to Zennon again, their argument water under the bridge. And the Michaels siblings were two people he felt he was growing closer to by the day. And he had an assortment of other people he considered friends. Jacob had no shortage of people to hang out with on any given at any given time, and he knew that he had a lot to be appreciative about. There were plenty of people who didn't think he was annoying like Analei and her friend seemed to believe, but he would be lying if he didn't say those words ran across his mind every now and again. And then he would grow despondent or angry. Truly, it depended on the day.

Today he had plenty else on his mind, and in spite, or perhaps because of, the amount of homework he had to get to, Jacob was outside. It was true that the days were growing more chilly but he was happy to enjoy the days as they came, a black hoodie on over his practice shirt. Jacob wasn't doing much. He had thought he'd spotted a gnome earlier but it was just a pile of dirt. So now he was just walking around again, looking for something exciting. When he glanced up, he spotted Emilia, a smile crossing his face as he returned her wave. Slowing down so she could catch up, Jacob replied. "Hey Emilia. I'm alright, trying to avoid some homework. You?" He hadn't seen her around much this semester outside of class, but he wasn't overly bothered by it. Whenever they did see each other, it was nice. Jacob shared stuff with her that sometimes even Jemma didn't know and he knew he could trust her too.

 

[Emilia Manning]

The smile that appeared on Jacob’s face as Emilia approached did a lot to reassure her. She knew he was a nice boy, and she reminded herself that she should trust believe in her friend. Recently, he had helped her at the electives fair. That had been a very intimidating experience for the Hufflepuff, and Jacob had made it so much easier. The memory of that moment combined with Jacob’s friendly response to her question made her feel confident enough to ask him about the problem that had been weighing on her mind. A small laugh escaped when he admitted he was avoiding homework, and she had to nod in agreement. "Me too, a bit.” She said softly. Her attitude towards her schoolwork wasn’t one her parents were very happy about. A lot of the classes intimidated her, but they also weren’t all that interesting to the Hufflepuff. She got average grades, but she knew if she tried harder she would be doing better. “I kind of went to look for you, though…” She admitted quietly. “I have to ask you something, but I hope it won’t make you angry.” Perhaps she shouldn’t have said that part, now he might think it was something bad she had done. Quickly, she added. “It’s about Analei. I know there’s some sort of fight between you, she… uh, talked to me. Because she saw us sit in class together.” She bit her lip. Maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned Analei directly either? It would perhaps have been wiser to just ask what had happened before admitting Analei had spoken to her, but then she always thought being honest was the best course of action. But this made it sound like Analei had approached her, which she hadn’t. Why was it so hard to say things clearly? “Well, no, I talked to her. Because she was acting… strange. And then she said something.” She added, twisting her hands together nervously. She wished she could do this over and be more clear about the situation from the start.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob's interest was piqued when Emilia mentioned that she had been looking for him. They were friendly, of course, and he was happy to hear that she had sought him out but they weren't so close that he expected her to do something like that. He looked at her through his glasses, a very curious expression on his face that morphed into apprehension when she mentioned not wanting to make him angry. A second later, he wondered if she was going to say something about the mandrake thing. So far, no one had mentioned it to him, but Emilia was a Hufflepuff which meant she shared a class with Analei and her friend. It wouldn't be a stretch to assume she'd found out about the whole thing and the incident that had followed which had taken place right after a Charms lesson they'd shared. He'd hoped enough students had gone by, but he truly hadn't paid attention to see who was around before he'd reacted.

At the mention of Analei's name, Jacob scowled and stuffed his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. They met in the middle, clenching as he thought of all things Analei had probably said to Emilia. Did all of his friends also have to like her? He really didn't understand how they could. Analei was the most annoying person on Earth and probably all the other planets too. "Analei has a big mouth" he growled as he continued to walk, his gaze on the ground. He didn't want to look at Emilia because this wasn't something he wanted to talk about, but now he felt like he had to, if only to defend himself against whatever Analei might have said. "So what did she say?" he prompted.

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia noticed the expression on Jacob’s face change the moment she mentioned Analei’s name, and she wasn’t sure to react to what he said about Analei. It was definitely confirmation of the animosity between them, but it didn’t make it any more clear to Emilia. Her own feelings about Analei had shifted a bit since the girl started treating her badly for being friends with Jacob when she had no idea the two didn’t like each other, but she still couldn’t understand what made Jacob dislike her so much. It was even more baffling that she disliked Jacob too. She walked with him, anxiety building as Jacob stopped looking at her. When Jacob asked her what she had said, Emilia thought carefully about her words. She wanted to be honest and clear, but not make things worse between them. “Well, she seemed a little angry with me and when I asked her about it she said I should know why…” she started, then quickly continued before she lost her nerve. “But I didn't at first. She said I shouldn’t be friends with you after how you treated her, but I’m still not sure what that means. And she said you shoved Arvel and… and that you’re not nice.” She decided to leave out that Analei had mentioned Jacob was probably using Emilia rather than actually being her friend. The general gist was probably enough, and she didn't want to force Jacob to tell her that wasn't true. “I said you’re nice and that you’re my friend, but she didn’t listen…” Emilia trailed off, thinking of the angry tears in Analei’s eyes during this conversation. “And then she said I had clearly made my choice, and I left because I was sad. I suppose she wanted me to choose between you and her... and now she’s angry with me.” She said softly, the situation causing her clear distress. Even though Jacob wasn’t looking at her, she tried to catch his gaze to see what sort of reaction he would have. “Can I ask what happened between you and her? I had no idea something was going on… maybe I should have paid more attention.” Emilia tended to put the fault by herself rather than other people. Maybe if she had said something different to Analei, it would have unfolded better.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob couldn't imagine anyone being mad at Emilia. She was one of the nicest people that he knew, and it annoyed him that Analei was trying to bring her into their drama. First, Arvel which don't matter to him because he didn't even know Arvel. But now Emilia? She was so irritating. His jaw clenched so hard as she spoke that he thought he was going to break a tooth, and she just kept going and going. Analei had obviously given Emilia an earful and he didn't even know where he was gong to begin or if he should even bother. Jacob didn't like that Analei was bringing everyone into this. Perhaps it was because he'd grown up under very special circumstances. His dad had been minister his whole life and his parents had worked hard to keep their lives private, to make sure their children didn't have to deal with being followed for pictures. The twelve year old let out a sigh, but he didn't speak. Not right away. He knew that there was plenty of fault on both sides here, but he'd never wanted Emilia to know about this. He had told her a lot about himself, but the thought that she might choose sides scared him.

"I'm sorry she's angry with you" he said, kicking at the dirt, "but you can't blame yourself. You shouldn't have known." He kept his gaze down, his cheeks red. This was embarrassing. "I don't even know how it got this bad" he admitted. "I did shove Arvel, but I didn't... it just got out of hand " he said, really wanting Emilia to believe him. "He and Analei were making fun of me. You probably know about it." The flush was on his neck now, still embarrassed by the mandrake thing. Jacob didn't want to admit that he had been jealous about the amount of time Analei had been spending with his best friend. That wasn't all of it because he honestly didn't know why Analei had been mean to him every time she saw him. He didn't want to talk about any of it so he shrugged, at a loss. He didn't know how to explain it because he didn't fully understand it himself.

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia could tell her words were making Jacob angry, or maybe he was upset? She wished she could take it back, or that she had been able to give him better news. There was a part of her that was worried Jacob was now angry with her, and she glanced at him nervously as he started to speak. To her surprise, he apologized to her and told her not to blame herself. Emilia exhaled in relief, feeling herself relax. She listened carefully as he talked to her. That was what they did, they listened to each other and tried to help each other. Emilia shook her head when Jacob told her she probably knew about it. It was becoming increasingly clear to her that she was missing out on a lot of things. “I didn’t, but you don’t have to tell me.” She said softly. “It’s not nice to shove people, but making fun of someone isn’t nice either. Especially when it’s two against one.” She tried her best not to pick any side, especially because she didn’t have all the facts. Emilia was quiet for a moment as she thought. “Do you think there’s a chance this can be fixed?” She asked hopefully, glancing at her friend. It was perhaps selfish to hope for this, as it would most definitely get rid of Emilia’s most immediate problem. The idea that she had to choose between two people gave her large amounts of stress, and if the choice was taken away from her by them all being friends that would be the best case scenario. It was also unlikely, she knew. She could tell neither Analei or Jacob thought they were in the wrong, so neither of them would take the first step. “Maybe I can help, in some way,” she added quietly.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob was glad that Emilia didn't seem to know about the mandrake thing or was at least pretending not to know. He'd been so worried about people finding out the way he had. Jacob kept his hands in his pocket, feeling smaller than ever when Emilia told him it wasn't nice to push people. He knew that, of course he did. In the moment, he had even known it was wrong, but that hadn't stopped him from acting. He had been so frustrated, but it was even more frustrating to see the disappointment in people's eyes. His mom had been especially bad, but Emilia's wasn't too far behind. It made him feel a discomfort he didn't like and he kept his gaze low, remaining silent as she offered to help. Jacob took a long time replying, not because he was thinking about it, but because he didn't want to sound mean to Emilia. Finally, he sighed. There was only one way to answer. "No. Don't waste your time, Emilia" he stated firmly. "I know you like to help, but trust me you have to stay out of this one." She should never have been brought into it in the first place, but that was Analei's fault.

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia could tell Jacob wasn’t feeling very well about this conversation, and her mind was trying to come up with some way to spin this so it would cheer him up. But she couldn’t, not really. Emilia simply didn’t know enough about the situation to really say anything of substance, but she had the feeling asking more questions about it wasn’t the right thing to do either. Her offer of helping him caused him to be quiet for a long time, which made Emilia a little hopeful that he was considering it. If they could all just sit down and talk, maybe that would fix everything. But when he finally answered, Emilia deflated slightly. He sounded very sure about his answer, which made her a little sad. But she wasn’t going to argue about this. If Jacob said she had to stay out of it, she would. She just hoped that Analei wouldn’t stay angry at her forever. Ideally, she would still like to have both of them as her friend. Emilia lowered her gaze to the ground and nodded. “Okay.” She said softly. “Sorry, I know this wasn’t fun to hear.” She wondered now if she should have kept it to herself. She had hoped telling Jacob would solve things, but it didn’t seem like it had done anything besides make her friend sad. “I’ll stay out of it now… I just hope it will be okay.” She glanced at Jacob nervously. “I’m sorry if I overstepped, I hope you’re not upset with me.” It was difficult for her to say, but she had to make sure Jacob wasn’t going to be angry with her too. She was starting to realize it was better to talk about feelings rather than bottle them up, even if it was difficult to say things so directly. If she had asked Analei what was wrong earlier, maybe the girl would have been less upset with her.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob was trying not to appear angry, but it was really hard. All he could think about was why Analei wanted to ruin his life. Everyone that he was friends with she tried to get mad at him. It wasn't fair because no one would even believe him if he said that out loud. He just knew it was true though. She was the meanest Hufflepuff he knew. Jacob didn't want Emilia to think he was mad at her. He was annoyed that they were talking about this, sure, but she had only brought it up because of Analei. As far as he was concerned, there was only one person to be mad at. "I'm not" he said, his voice curt. Then, he repeated himself, softening his tone slightly. He walked in silence for a moment longer. "Merlin she makes me so angry!" he raised his voice, his head tilting up as he spoke the last word to the sky.

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia knew that this hadn't been an easy talk for either of them, but she did think that things were generally better when they were out in the open. It just made her feel bad to see Jacob so upset, and she wondered if she could do something to cheer him up. When he said he wasn't upset with her, he did sound a little upset. But he repeated himself, and Emilia trusted him to mean his words. She was thinking of what to say, when suddenly Jacob raised his voice. Emilia jumped a little, looking at him in alarm. But she quickly recovered and felt sad for him. It was clear that his emotions about this situation were really frustrating him. "I... understand that." She says softly. "I'm sorry. But... I'm your friend, and you have many other friends who love you and are there for you. Some people just aren't going to click with you, and I think that's something everyone can have." She shrugged slightly. "Maybe... Analei is just that person for you. I like you, Jacob. I don't believe it when she says you're bad. Everyone does bad things sometimes, but you're still a good person. Just a good person who is angry sometimes." She twisted her hair around her finger anxiously. "It will be okay." She knew the words were hollow, but it was all she could offer him.