Closed Too Far?

[Giulia Alcott]

This costume had felt like a brilliant idea when Giulia first thought of it. It was sure to stand out, maybe even give her a chance in the competition again. Looking at herself in the mirror, Giulia had seen someone she would be jealous of if she had seen them at the feast herself. As soon as she was out amongst her classmates though, she was flooded by regret. The bodysuit was so tight, and even though it was hard to really see her through all of the pictures flowing across its surface, she still felt exposed in a way she should have predicted. She fought the urge to cover herself with her hands as she made her way down from the tower, a flight of fairies flitting over her body giving way to waves on a beach. The rotation of images had taken longer to implement than she thought, and at the time including a picture of Akihiro had just been a bit of fun. As she waited for him by the doors of the Great Hall though, Giulia was struck by how silly that was. It was embarrassing, walking around wearing her boyfriend's face. What had she been thinking?! It was too late to go change though, Akihiro was going to be here any minute, and she would have to figure out how to explain this to him.

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen hadn't necessarily decided to meet up with René at the Halloween Feast, but she still expected him to be there waiting for her. It wasn't like he'd be spending time with Louis, after all. She was pretty pleased with her costume. It was just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek and spooky, but still elegant and pretty. Gwen adjusted her hat and gloves as she walked past a big group of young students. She then spotted Giulia Alcott. She was hard to miss, with her changing costume. Gwen stopped, watching her for a moment. It would be a cool costume, if she owned it. But Giulia looked like she wished no one was looking at her. It was truly a mystery how she was related to Louis. Gwen wasn't sure if she should say anything to the girl, it probably wasn't worth the energy. But then Akihiro's face flashed onto her costume and Gwen couldn't help herself, she laughed. "Oh my goodness." She said, covering her mouth with her hand. "I suppose you need everyone to remember you have a boyfriend, right? Afraid we'll forget?" She asked, a pitying look on her face.

 

[Giulia Alcott]

Rocking back and forth on her feet, Giulia was alternating between desperately scanning the halls for Akihiro and trying not to look any of her classmates in the eye. Maybe it would be worth being late to meet Akihiro if she just ran upstairs and changed. She was about to make a break for it when she heard a devastatingly familiar voice, every muscle in her body tensing at once. Of course Gwen had seen her, and now it was already too late. "It's a joke." She said quickly. "He'll get it." Giulia didn't know if that was true at all, but it was the best defense she had, glad that at least the stains from her nervous sweat wouldn't show on the ever changing bodysuit.

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen blinked as Giulia defended herself by saying it was a joke. She smiled. "Really? Explain it to me then." She said with a smile. "I'm smart, I'm sure I'll get it." She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I'm sure he'll love it, the utter adoration is probably the reason he picked someone like you. It strokes his ego." She said, a sympathetic look on her face.

 

[Giulia Alcott]

Giulia's heart was deep in her stomach, and she felt a little bit like she was going to puke it up any minute. Of course Gwen would push her on this. Of course she wouldn't let Giulia sneak by. She felt her shoulders hunch up by her ears under the Slytherin's scrutiny, opening and closing her mouth as she struggled to find the right words The idea that Akihiro only liked her because she thought he was so cool was.... uncomfortably realistic, and her body tingled all over with shame and fear. "I - it's - um..." As she battled with English, Giulia realised there was, for once, an easy option available to her. "You're just.... a horrible person, and I don't know why you're so mean to me. I'm not doing anything to you, so just leave me alone." The words came out of her in a cathartic rush, before she switched back to English. "So... you wouldn't understand."

 

[Akihiro Chen]

Akihiro was running just a touch later than he would have liked. He was walking down the stairs, looking for Giulia, when he froze in his track. There was his girlfriend, looking beautiful, of course, but then there was Gwen. He felt his heart sink and he bit back a sigh, walking down until he was standing behind Gwen, looking unamused. He heard just enough to speak up. "I'm afraid the only ego that's in question is yours, Gwen." He countered. "I believe the issue is that your pride was injured. You didn't care that I dumped you, you cared that you didn't have the chance to do it first." He moved around, standing next to Giulia, putting himself between her and Gwen just a touch.

"You've never forgiven me for finding you shallow and vain, have you? Despite what you may think, I love her because she is an intelligent, thoughtful, beautiful woman that actually cares more about what I say than how I look beside her. Unlike you, I am confident enough in myself that I don't need those around me to reassure me how attractive or appealing I am. Now if you'll excuse us, I have a date with a wonderful woman that I can actually hold a meaningful conversation with," He shifted slightly, offering Giulia his hand and giving her a tender smile.

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen frowned when Giulia launched into rapid French. She was about to respond when Akihiro joined them. Gwen had been fairly sure he'd show up soon, and his words made her roll her eyes. "Actually, Akihiro, I'm quite right about your ego, as you're just assuming this is about you." She told him coolly. "What I don't like is how you act like you're so perfect, when we both know you're just as vain and shallow as you claim I am." She smiled sweetly. "Even now, this is all about you, isn't it? You act like I'm such an evil person, like I deserved to be hurt like that, when I did nothing to you. And even now, you're acting like I'm the bad guy here when you do nothing but insult me any chance you get." She smiled more when he said he could actually have a conversation with Giulia, shaking her head. "See? There it is again, you're insinuating that I'm stupid. You've been nothing but cruel about me since we broke up, and you have no reason for it." She turned to Giulia. "Be careful, he's a condescending jerk and will turn on you too." She clicked her tongue. "Don't fall for his perfect guy act, he's probably practiced all those lines in the mirror."

 

[Giulia Alcott]

Giulia was considering just running for it when Akihiro showed up, sweeping in like a knight in shining armour to come to her defense. She couldn't take her eyes off him as he spoke, moving closer as soon as he came to her side. All her life Giulia had wished she had someone like this to come to her defense, to stand up for her and keep her safe from people like Gwen. Her heart was already racing when he said a word that froze her to her core. 'I love her'... Love. Giulia had always longed for her great love story, like the ones she loved in stories, and now... here it was. She felt a little bit like she was going to cry, and when Akihiro took her hand it was all she could do not to just pull him into a kiss and damn the rest of the school.

Unfortunately for her, Gwen somehow wasn't put off by his defense, and with every word she said Giulia's happiness deflated until she felt like a used balloon, weak and wrung out, trembling slightly. How did Gwen know exactly where to strike to hurt her, every single time? It had taken so, so long to get over her fears that Akihiro was just doing this to make fun of her, and they all resurfaced at once as the Slytherin spoke. Gwen was a liar, she knew that, but hearing someone outside her relationship echo all the things she feared from Akihiro made them all too real all over again. Her heart felt like a rotten pear, stepped on and crushed to mush, and she couldn't even pretend to keep it out of her voice as she spoke, on the verge of tears again for a very different reason. "That's not true."

 

[Akihiro Chen]

-godmods approved-

Akihiro squeezed Giulia's hand gently, facing Gwen with a brow raised. "Really? I heard more of the conversation than you seem to realize, Gwen. Please tell me, when have I insulted you? I won't deny that I used to be more concerned with my looks, but I realized how empty it was. I tried to talk to you, but you held no interest in my life or anything about me. I am sorry if I hurt your feelings, but when we broke up I merely suggested we were better as friends. We hadn't spoken since until the patrol. The one you caused a massive fight over in front of everyone." He pointed out. Agitated, he kept going, not stopping or letting her get a word in.

"You and I haven't spoken in years, Gwen. I haven't spoken of you or to you until we were paired together for prefect patrols, and now you're here not so subtly attacking my girlfriend. I have no animosity towards you, and haven't spared more than a thought for you since I walked away. For someone that is supposedly so sweet and mature, you are certainly going out of your way to spite someone that you've barely spoken to in years. I'm sure you have better things to be doing, perhaps its time to grow up and move on?" He suggested firmly. "Jealousy isn't a good look, Gwen." He slipped his arm around Giulia and turned, leading her away from Gwen and the rest of the party, heading for the courtyard.