Exploring the Grounds Open

Rosie forced another smile up at the other girl that had approached her. There were good people. This group was nice. “Thank you, it means a lot.” She replied, she looked back down at her hands and nervously fiddled with them. It’s like Rosie constantly had to be moving to keep herself occupied, especially when her emotions were messed with like that day. Her mind was full of different thoughts. Rosie was angry, but it was fading with good company.

When she felt Anatole’s arm wrap around her, she snapped out of her gaze.

Rosie glanced at him, a soft expression on her face. She was thankful, that was clear. There wasn’t anything romantic, because that was gross and for further years, because all Rosie felt right now was grateful.

She turned back up to the first girl that had approached and scoffed slightly, waving her hand. “It’s not anything important, I promise. Just some mean kids. They’re off down the Great Lake,” she moved her hand towards the direction of where they were. “I don’t think they followed me, or cared enough to. It’s not like I’ll be talking to them anytime soon.” Rosie muttered. She took the opportunity to lean onto Anatole’s shoulder, her soft expression was replaced with bitterness.

The girl, Rosie, Sarafina remembered, replied with,
“It’s not anything important, I promise. Just some mean kids. They’re off down the Great Lake,” Rosie pointed to where they apparently were. Whoever they was. “I don’t think they followed me, or cared enough to. It’s not like I’ll be talking to them anytime soon.” Sarafina nodded. She let Cynthia introduce herself before speaking again.
"Okay. Well, if you ever need anything, me and the others will most likely be admiring the giant squid named Aye." She shook her head. "That was a really weird sentence. I never expected to say something like that. Okay! I'll leave you two alone." She walked back over to the lake with the others. She saw that Anatole and Rosie wanted to talk to each other. She guessed they were friends and had been for a while. She caught back up with the others. "How's the giant squid, sorry, Aye, doing?" she asked. Everyone seemed to be getting along well. That was good. She was glad her friends had made friends with her other friends...That was confusing. She shook her head, clearing the thought away and looked at the lake, trying to find Aye. It wasn't hard when it was a giant squid.

Cynthia decided she would let Anatole and Rosie have some time alone so they could talk about whatever they needed to talk about.  She figured they had known each other for a while and were pretty good friends.  She felt Rosie would tell them what was wrong if she wanted, but Cynthia wouldn’t force her to do it.  There were some things that were better discussed with close friends or your family.  For now, she was enjoying the company of her new friends and the giant squid named Aye.  The giant squid did seem to grow fond of his new name. This caused Cynthia to smile at the thought of a squid knowing its name and becoming fond of it.

She thought about moving on with their exploration of the school grounds.  “Where should we explore next?  The greenhouses or the Quidditch Pitch?” Cynthia asked her new friends.  As beautiful as the Black Lake was, she didn’t want to spend all of her time there.  She wanted to see what else the school grounds held for them to discover.  She thought about exploring the Forbidden Forest someday, but thought better of it.  She knew about the dangerous animals that lived in there.  She did not want to put herself or her friends in any immediate danger.  She waited for her friends to answer to see where they should go next.

Skyla was sitting by a tree by the lake ,wearing her casual outfit for now-which was a white shirt with a red hoodie,covering her scared arms with black leggings ,and was drawing the lake,it was really beautiful she thought,she soon finished and decided to explore,maybe she'd meet some along the way,or see those she'd made friends with.sighing,she took up her sketchbook and stood up ,trying to make sure her scar couldn't be seen on her eye,and started to wander round,there was many students which frightened her,she didn't want to be alone in this,but was afraid to make new ones either,she'd much rather hang out with the ones she met at the huffle puff table .
She didn't realise,because she was looking down that she bumped into somebody .firghtened she squeaked "I-I'm s-so s-sorry!" Mentally cursing at herself in the process ,she quickly walked passed them and hid behind another tree ,having to keep herself from having a panic attack,she felt so bad for bumping into them,whoever it was,looking up,she realised she had gone somewhere ,and didn't know the name
.she again sighed ,you bloody idiot...she cursed at herself,she probably should have asked for directions or a map first ,but she didn't.

Sarafina was startled when someone bumped into her. She recognized the girl from earlier. She quickly apologized and ran off and hid behind a tree. Sarafina ran after her. She remembered her name. She was pretty sure it was Skyla.
"Skyla, it's fine. It happens all the time. No need to apologize,"" she said. She found the tree she was hiding behind. "Hey, it's just me. Sarafina, from earlier," she said, hoping the girl would remember her. Maybe she would feel a little more comfortable knowing that she knew someone there. "I was just hanging around the lake with some friends. Are you okay? You can join us if you want. We're just admiring the giant squid. We named it Aye. I could introduce you to the others if you want. They're all really nice, I promise." She smiled reassuringly, trying to get the girl to calm down a bit. "That's actually how I met them," she said, retelling the story. "I was walking and I bumped into them. I honestly thought they were going to hate me and not want to talk to me, but no. They were nice and we became friends. See? It's fine," she finished talking.

When skyla realised she had bumped into fina,and she had spoken to her for abit,skyla. Calmed and down and gave a small smile "thanks..guess I freaked out ,huh...?" Skyla sighed ,she did that quite a lot "again,sorry.i seem to do that a lot..freak out I mean.im glad it was you though..and not a complete stranger"she shortly laughed ,it could be a lot worse if it was one,they may not have been nice after all,she gave a sigh of relief ,knowing she atleast found somebody she knew ,as most students seemed to have found their clicks , and that didn't help her anxiety when that happened .
Though she guessed what Sarafina said would be true,as a lot of the time it is how people meet and become friends,but it wouldn't be the case every time,and sky's mind always seems to go to worst case scenarios
Instead of the best or good,
I need to change that mindset.skyla realised,it wouldn't be helpful in the long run ,especially in hogwarts.hopefully she would soon atleast ,or il just mess this up .she thought,she'd done that many times , but she was determined to try ,she wanted to do good here,and it could be the only opportunity to change her life around.
So When Sarafina suggested she could come with them,she nodded ,she didn't even know what she was doing after all.

Anatole felt amazing, looking back down at Rosie, then out towards the water. Part of him pretended like no one else was there to stop him, no "cooties" (whatever the Queen Elizabeth they were), and no one to ruin their day, like they had ruined Rosie's earlier. He smiled at her, happy she was brushing past the bullies. "Good. They must be jerks to pick on you, anyways." He laughed, another wide grin radiating off his face. There was nothing that could ruin the two of them.

Oh. Wait a moment. It was real life. Sarafina was there, just in the background. Part of Anatole felt bad leaving her out, but he wasn't sure what Rosie felt or even anything. So he took a breath, moving his arm off of Rosie for a moment, looking back at the other girl, her black hair winding down her face like a coaster, or wrapping around her face like a garland. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Please, tell me how Aye is! Sorry I had to miss the squid!"

Dang, it came out a little harsher than he intended. Not meaning the heavy sarcasm in his voice, it came out.

He was about to reach out and apologize, say he messed up, but his gut refused to apologize once more since Clary.

And, she was too far gone.

Rosie's bitterness began to fade when Anatole called them jerks, and instead she laughed. It was funny, how quickly Anatole had gotten her to laugh. Probably because they were already such good friends, Rosie felt like she could depend on him. She turned to him and returned a grin to match his, suddenly feeling a lot better than she had just a few minutes ago. Friends had a weird way of turning your mood around, especially those certain ones. Anatole was special.

She smiled weakly. "Really, I'm all good." Rosie's smile faded a bit when Anatole removed his arm. She did interrupt something, after all. Rosie shifted uncomfortably and frowned. "Should I leave? I shouldn't be downing on anyone's mood.." She mumbled, fiddling with her hands a bit. Rosie watched the group converse and talk, she shouldn't have interfered, but she had wanted to head somewhere that wasn't... With those two. Rosie turned back to Anatole, a slight pout on her lips as if to silently ask if she was interrupting anything.

The last thing Rosie wanted to do was to trouble Anatole, if she lost him as a friend she didn't know what she'd do. She looked down the grass, as if almost waiting for one of the rude kids to start making their way there.

She laughed, well, she was laughing, she was smiling, chuckling like she used to! Yes! Huzzah! It was something Anatole had missed when she was sad. But what had made her happy? Just the language he used when he didn't think? Maybe he was funnier than he thought. Just fascinating.

He looked into her eyes, taking his socks off and mindlessly dipping his toe in the water. Since it was cold, he immediately retracted it back out with a slightly girlish scream. With his face flushed red, he looked over at Rosie and instantly burst out laughing, falling back onto the grass and pushing himself up again.

Her tears had dried instantly, almost evaporated, like Anita's did. There was something about a sunny day, the light on your bright face making your tears and sadness...dissipate. This place must have been truly magical.

"You sure you're completely alright? I'm not trying to doubt you, but I just want to check up on you." Anatole continued to laugh. "I don't see a reason for you to fib, anyways!"

As a cloud passed over the warm summer sky, Rosie looked at him, rubbing her arm nervously and asking if she should leave. Of course, Anatole didn't want her to leave. He liked her here. Rosie was probably much better than any exotic species of giant squid.

Well, it depends on how awesome the squid was. Super cool squids were epic and definitely better..

Anatole watched the other girls smile, laugh, and point at Aye. He was conflicted what to choose. Mostly because curious eleven-year-olds love new things, such as especially exquisite squid. "Hey, I really don't want to bias your decision..." He scratched his head, trying to hide his anxiety. It didn't work too well. "Just, leave if you want. The squid and the sun will disappear eventually."

Watching her turn away, Anatole looked back. "But, I'd really like for you to stay out and enjoy the day either way. It's spectacular."

Rosie chuckled a little more before going quiet again, a small smile on her face. She got to focus her attention on Anatole since the others walked off, which was easier for her since she was still kinda upset and in the company of someone who could understand. Rosie also got distracted by looking at Anatole, mostly because he was looking at her and it was lowkey a staring contest. His eyes were nice, at least. The moment was interrupted when Anatole screamed from the water, from which Rosie burst out into laughter.

She wiped the remaining tears and nodded. "I'm great now." Rosie replied, grinning. "You sure do know how to make someone laugh, you know?" She brought her knees to her chest, looking back at Anatole. "You seem more interested in the squid though, I can be on my way while you join them and have fun? Surely it must be more entertaining then sitting with someone who's sulking." She shrugged. Rosie hugged her knees again and rested her chin on them. She felt bad for keeping Anatole with her. Rosie had done it before, bothering him with her problems. She didn't want to do it again.

Rosie stood up. "Y-You know what? I think I'm gonna head off. Go have fun." She said as she started to walk backwards.