Trying to look pretty

[Charlotte Owens]

Despite unfortunate recent events, Charlotte was slowly starting to pick herself up. Valentine's Day had definitely lifted her spirits a bit more but she still wasn't back to normal. Social situations were proving to be a bit harder and she mainly just tried to isolate herself in hopes that everything will just fit back together eventually. It wasn't the easiest thing to do but there wasn't really much else and she obviously wasn't the only one suffering and just needed to forget about it. The Slytherin knew that it would only take time before everything fixed itself but until then she had to be patient.

Charlotte made her way to the courtyard, her head looking straight at the ground as she walked. It was a nice place to try and distract her thoughts as not many people usually went there and she was able to try and forget. She sat down on a nearby bench as her right hand dug into the pocket of her robes as her fingers looked around for her mascara. She had stolen it from her mother's makeup bag during the holidays and wasn't entirely sure why she wanted it. Many of the girls in her year were starting to decorate their faces and so Charlotte wanted to too. Taking it out of her pocket, she twisted it open to reveal a long black stick with a furry top. She then began to apply it, using the top of the stick to carefully go over her eyelashes. It wasn't that hard at all to use and it made her eyelashes look slightly better, even if there wasn't much of a difference.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

'Cheer up, it might never happen!' Reuben dislodged a stone with his foot, kicking it several meters down the gravelled path that led up to the courtyard. His father's advice had only been in jest, yet the words had struck him oddly. His grades, it turned out, were outstanding; his brother was making time for him again; and though his mother was still sad, no fresh misfortunes had befallen the Lagowski family. So why, why wasn't Reuben happy? He'd thought perhaps a girlfriend might cheer him up, but evidently he had been wrong. He wasn't even sure he liked girls - or anybody at all, for that matter. All he really knew was that he felt perpetually uncomfortable, and even that confused him.

The path inclined and rose into the yard, where several older and younger students alike were standing around in groups - groups that would inevitably angle and close against him, if he were to approach. He'd stopped trying. He had a few friends, now; taking elective classes had had many perks, a fresh start amongst peers being one of them. And then there was Charlotte, who he had known a little longer than this, though whether or not she considered him a friend he could not discern. He brightened when he saw her, his pace quickening. "Hi Charlie!" he said, a frown creasing his forehead as he came within a close enough distance to see the object in her hand. "What are you doing? Is that make-up?" He'd seen a little in his mother's bedroom.

 

[Charlotte Owens]

Charlotte paused mid-eyelash and smiled when Reuben came over to her, calling her Charlie. Reuben was Charlotte's only Hufflepuff friend and she quite enjoyed his company. Charlie was what only he called her and she felt rather special to have granted herself such a nickname by him. "Hello!" Charlotte exclaimed, happy to have found a friend. He seemed to be interested in what she was doing, and she took the black stick away from her eye and held it out to him. "It's called mascara." she said, letting him hold it if he wanted to. "It's supposed to make your eyelashes stand out more, not that it really makes a difference." She shrugged, unsure why she was even using it in the first place. The Slytherin just wanted to fit in with everyone else. All of her friends were getting boyfriends and girlfriends and Charlotte had no one. She was just hoping that the mascara would help that a little bit more.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

A warmth rose in Reuben's chest; Charlotte greeted him with such genuine enthusiasm that he couldn't help but feel a sense of comfort at her words. The Hufflepuff took the offered mascara with a smile, twisting the stick around in his hand. He sat down, examined the weird looking bristles, and then looked up at Charlotte's eyelashes to see what difference it had made. Her eyelashes were very full and pretty, he observed, but slightly more so on one side than the other. The difference was certainly noticeable up close; Reuben had to wonder how many girls' eyelashes were really so thick and dark naturally. "Wow," he said, smiling. "You have such pretty eyelashes! You don't even need this stuff." He handed the mascara stick back, because his interest in it was beginning to feel strange. Although... Charlotte wouldn't judge him, would she? "How do you put it on?"

 

[Charlotte Owens]

Charlotte felt her cheeks flush at Reuben's comment. Mascara was probably the most basic makeup that Charlotte was able to steal from her mother's stash without it being too noticeable, but she still felt different with it on, even if Reuben thought otherwise. His words made her feel good about herself and she smiled at him, thankful for his kindness. "It's quite easy to put on really." she said, taking the stick and beginning to demonstrate how to apply it on her other eye. "You just look up and put it right up to your eyelash. Then you kind of wiggle it back and forth a bit." Charlotte did exactly that and then filled in the tips of them, blinking afterwards to make sure there were no clumps. "Did you want to try?" She held it out to him again, just in case.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

Reuben watched the mascara application process with guilty fascination. He felt wrong - as if he were witnessing a terrible crime - but the feeling was unjustified. He was only watching Charlotte put make-up on. Suddenly he wanted to run, somewhere, anywhere; and for each second he fought the desire, it grew stronger, until he felt sick to his core.

The Hufflepuff flinched back from Charlotte's hand. "N-no," he stammered. Why had she asked him that? Did he look as if he wanted to try? "No! I was just... I like the way it looks on you. I mean, I don't care about it, okay?!" A cocktail of fear and sadness and anger churned inside him, bringing tears to his eyes. Confused, he got up and began to walk quickly back in the direction he'd come, praying that the path out of the courtyard would still be clear.

 

[Charlotte Owens]

Charlotte was taken aback by Reuben's reaction. Was it something she said? She felt guilty for assuming that he wanted to have a go and didn't understand why he reacted that way. Perhaps it was the stereotype that makeup was only for girls? Charlotte didn't think of that at all before giving it to him and as she saw the tears begin to form in his eyes, she frowned, feeling as if she could cry too. "Hey, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed as she saw him walk away. She stood up, putting the mascara back into the pocket of her robes and caught up with him, walking by his side. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." she said simply. "I understand why you're upset. I mean, I did just offer you to put on makeup... which you don't need! You're a guy and guys don't wear makeup so I'm very sorry for ever thinking you would want to try it." Charlotte continued to ramble on, not caring if Reuben was listening to her or not. "The stereotypes are really bad nowadays. Why should girls only wear makeup? It's quite stupid, isn't it?"

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

Head down. Keep walking. It wasn't any use. Charlotte was by Reuben's side within seconds, keeping pace with him as he walked to nowhere in particular. He felt terrible for his sudden mood swing, but he didn't slow to apologise. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Why did she have to be so kind? He wasn't sure how much longer he could let her go on for. Suddenly the Hufflepuff came to an abrupt halt. "Charlotte!" he said, regretting his sharpness before he's reached the second syllable. A sorry look clouded his face. He was bitterly angry, but not at her. He couldn't take it out on her. "It doesn't matter, okay?" he said, but there was hurt in his voice and behind his eyes. He sniffed once, looking out over the green horizon. "I'm not mad at you! I... I don't even know what I'm mad at. I don't understand. All these weird things are happening to me and I don't like it. I don't like myself." Reuben began to walk again, but this time not in an attempt to lose Charlotte. "I really just thought your makeup looked good on you, by the way. But thank you."