Closed The Studies of Unexpecting

[Samantha Jacobs]

It was the end of the term, and Samantha had decided to study once again for her upcoming exams. She had thought that she was doing much better with her classes this year, and had hoped that she would keep it up until she finished Hogwarts. But she wasn't so sure. Samantha made her way to the library and was lucky to find an available table for her to study since it was the time of the year, where everyone was preparing for their upcoming exams. She had let Sydney know that she was going to the library to study, and Sydney could come and join her if she wanted to. Sam laid all her textbooks out on the table and got started on her studies.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Not putting much stock into grades and exams, Sydney found herself almost permanently rolling her eyes every year that exam season came around. It seemed silly to her to believe that your knowledge of a subject could really be gaged by how well you answer some questions on a paper. Even the practical sections seemed foolish to her, as if getting to perform a spell one time in a vacuum was going to show off how well you understood magic. That being said, when Samantha had mentioned she was going to be studying this afternoon, Sydney supposed it wouldn't hurt to brush up on her own work. Just because she didn't care about grades didn't mean she wouldn't benefit from reviewing what she'd learnt this year.

Spotting Samantha already set up, Sydney dropped into the seat across from her, making a vague effort to flatten down her hair before giving up. "Hope you're not stressing out about anything," She said simply, grabbing her Transfiguration book to flip through it idly. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha was looking through her Muggle Studies textbook when she noticed that someone took the seat opposite her. She looked up and noticed it was Sydney, giving her a small smile before looking back down at her textbook. "Hello to you too. And I'm not stressing," Samantha says with a small laugh. Samantha had been trying not to be too stressed with the exams, which she managed well so far. "Oh, I don't know about that" Samantha says with another small laugh and a shake of her head, even though she had been studying a little more recently. "How are your studies going so far?" Samantha says quietly, as she looks through her textbook and while taking small notes.

 

[Sydney Townsend]

"Good," Sydney said simply, making herself more comfortable. It was easy to get sucked into the overworked mindset that exams were the decider of your fate or your intelligence, something which Sydney refused to prescribe to. "Grades don't actually reflect how smart you are, especially in this school," She said when Samantha seemed to disagree about her exam prospects. "They just measure how well you can regurgitate facts and wave a wand around," She said, putting her book aside and pulling out the one she'd been reading on Occlumency, which was much more interesting. "I'm doing some self-study, it's more interesting," She said, pausing as she looked over at what Samantha was working. "Do you need any help?" Sydney offered haltingly. She didn't think she was the best at helping other people, she got annoyed quickly when other students didn't just 'get' what she was saying, but she could try, for Sam.

 

[Ren Lockwood]

Ren had been looking for Sam for nearly an hour- Sam or Sydney. He had tried everywhere and had no luck. He had just made it to the fourth floor, thinking maybe Lily might know what to do- when the thought occurred to him to check the library. He hadn't been there yet. He grinned, turning and loping into the library. He spotted the girls quickly. Not wanting to yell and get in trouble he sauntered over, pulling out a chair and sitting. "Hey, guys," He greeted, a wide smile on his face. "Perfect timing, I was looking for you two." He could feel himself blush a little but ignored it, he usually tended to blush when he was with Sam. "Hey, Sam, Sydney hasn't told me yet, have you been liking the little gifts? I had an idea but I wanted to talk to you first and see what you thought," He jumped right in, knowing studies were important and not wanting to keep her from them for too long.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha looked up from her work when Sydney had asked if she needed help with her studies. She shook her head a little "Nah, I think I should be fine" Samantha says with a small smile, before continuing with her studies. It was a little while later when she heard a voice. Samantha looked up from her studies to see Ren, who she hadn't seen in a long, long while. She couldn't remember the last time they saw each other. "Oh, hey Ren" Sam says with a smile and a tiny blush. Samantha faced had turned into confusion. She hadn't seen or heard of any of these 'gifts' that Ren had mentioned... "Uh, w-what gifts?" Samantha said questioned with confusion looking back and forth between Ren and Sydney. She hoped that she wasn't losing her memory because she was sure she never received a gift?

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney nodded, glad Samantha didn't seem too stressed out about grades. She got so annoyed at all the kids running around like getting a P was the end of the world instead of just some stupid letter on a page that meant nothing really. She bit back a groan when Ren decided he needed to enjoy them as well, trying not to sneer as he literally sauntered over to them, couldn't he see they were busy. Sydney had been about to tell him as much when Ren brought up his little presents, her mouth clicking shut as she tried to think quickly. "Oh, a present? Was there a present?" She said vaguely, trying to look thoughtful. "I must have.. forgot," She said, glancing away. If she was lucky, she could downplay this as a one time thing and maybe Sam wouldn't notice. Though that would require Ren to keep his mouth shut, which seemed unlikely. "I'm sure it wasn't all that important," She added, looking quickly at Samantha's face to gage her reaction. She'd been trying to do this to save Samantha from Ren's pathetic advances, the last thing she wanted was Sam upset with her.

 

[Ren Lockwood]

Ren's smile faded, and a look of hurt flashed over his features. "W-what?" He asked softly. He felt immensely stupid. He had hoped Sydney was warming up to him, that she was starting to like him. But it was painfully obvious that he had put too much hope into himself. "There were six, Sydney." He sighed, looking away. "A necklace, a pretty bracelet, three little glass roses, a book, and a good luck charm. I guess... they weren't anything really grand, I just... thought you would like them,"

He glanced up at Sam and quickly glanced away. "Sydney... is your friend, and I wanted her to be my friend, too, I thought she was intelligent and interesting and when I couldn't find you, she said she would take you the gifts. It was the most she had talked to me, I thought... I thought I was making progress, that we could all be friends," He looked up to Sydney, hurt in his eyes. "You told me you'd given them to her... that was why I kept bringing them to you, it seemed like the only way you would talk to me, I..." He sighed, biting his lip.

Feeling foolish, Ren reached into his bag and took the little wooden jewelry box from it. It was made of a darker wood, with flowers carved in the lid. He set it on the table in front of Sam. "I know I get caught up in my art and I'm forgetful, I just... I was trying to be better, and they were just... pretty little trinkets I thought were pretty and I thought you would like them, I..." He bit his lip. "This is pretty and... I hope you like it." He stood, shifting his bag on his shoulder. "I'll just... leave you two alone. I never meant to be a pest... I'm sorry," He apologized softly, turning and walking away with his hands in his pockets and his heart hurting. He had been putting his heart out and Sam and Sydney had just been... laughing at his stupidity. He needed to go find Lily. Immediately.

 

[Samantha Jacobs]

Samantha was getting slightly overwhelmed with the information she was getting. All these gifts and effort Ren had been putting in, and Sydney looking like she had nothing to do with it. She didn't even know that there were gifts given to her and Sydney hadn't even bothered to give her those gifts had bothered Samantha. She watched as Ren placed another gift that looked lovely to her. Samantha was going to explain that she didn't know but it was too late, he had walked away. Sam looked at the box that was placed on the table, with sadness. She was speechless and didn't know what to do. "Why?" Samantha asked Sydney with sadness. She had trusted Sydney and liked their friendship. Yet she felt that Sydney had betrayed her trust. "You know what, never mind," Samantha says with sadness and disappointment as she didn't want to hear Sydney's explanation. Samantha stood up and packed up her things, with slight anger, while collecting the gift and walked away from Sydney and out the library with a slight rush. She needed some space from what had just happened. Hopefully, she could find Ren on her way up to her dorm.

(ooc: this is very dramatic haha)

 

[Sydney Townsend]

Sydney gave another half-shrug, looking away from Sam as Ren mentioned exactly how many presents she'd managed to intercept between Ren and Samantha. He even went so far as to list them off and Sydney tried not to roll her eyes too obviously. Nobody would want that dumb stuff, really, she'd been doing Ren a favour by not giving them to Samantha. "I don't want to be friends with you, you're boring-" She started, scrunching up her face at Ren's droll compliments. It was so pathetic how Ren seemed to think you had to buy people's affections, clearly he didn't have anything else to offer but that. Sydney wished he'd just get the hint already. He and Samantha clearly had nothing in common, so he'd be doing everyone a favour and saving himself a lot of money if he'd just stop.

Samantha seemed to think differently though, and Sydney found herself stopping mid-sentence as Sam just turned to her and asked her why she'd done. "Because-" She started, brow furrowing as Samantha cut her off and got to her feet. "Why do you even waste your time with that guy, Samantha-" She tried, but Samantha was already packing her things, following Ren from the library. Sydney sat at the table, mouth still half-open with objections. This was ridiculous. Why did Samantha care about that idiot. He was a cliche idiot who thought he could buy her attention with stupid little trinkets instead of actually knowing how to carry a conversation of any intelligence like Sydney could. Why did Samantha even need friends or- Or a boyfriend that was such a waste of space. Seething, Sydney grabbed her other things, shoving them indeterminately in her bag, unsure if she was furious at Sam, Ren, or herself. Probably Ren. Definitely at least Ren.