Spinning Finished

"I wouldn't have beaten you if you had left. There was a 5 second window I had turned my back and you didn't take it. Do better next time."
-Grandfather

If they thought that standing over him was going to stop him they were wrong. Very wrong. Dead wrong. They were so wrong, they were... incorrect.

His little mental pep talk came to a grinding halt, in contrast to the rest of his body. Slipping past the new arrivals Kaegen made a flying leap for the door, scarf trailing out behind him. His plan consisted of making an exit, and then to continue making an exit until he reached somewhere that had at least decent security.

He didn't understand people, he was never going to understand people. That girl had gotten mad, and he hadn't even been being mean. It was a small nail in a coffin, all things considered. But it was a nail nonetheless, locking up Kaegen's desire to communicate with other people. It wasn't a very big desire in the first place. In fact, it had barely been there. But that just made the coffin all the more easy to slowly nail shut.

As he reached the door, Kaegen turned, and dashed off down the hall. He had made a strange exit indeed, left and even stranger impression and had learned nothing good from the encounter. But that was how some days went, and he didn't know he was supposed to change them, or how. Normal was what happened. You rolled with it and tried to keep on living.

Rosie felt eyes on the back of her head as she stood over Kaegen with concern. She turned a bit and looked at Adam and Anatole again. She silently hoped they weren't paying too much attention to her. When Rosie heard shuffling though, she turned back around to see Kaegen shuffling up and sprinting out of the Ballroom. The girl furrowed her eyebrows and gasped a bit, watching him go. "W-Wait! I'm sorry!-" She noticed he was already gone and let out a loud sigh. Rosie rubbed her head and turned away from the hallway, looking to the other girl who was standing. "Um..." Rosie said awkwardly, not really sure on what to do.

She wasn't very good at handling situations. The young Hufflepuff usually ran from them and worried about them later. She knew she had blown up on Kaegen. Was the fact he ran her fault? Her heart dropped a little and she felt her shoulders slump. How nobody could come to that conclusion was beyond her. Rosie let out another quiet sigh and glanced back at the pair again. Did she leave? Go talk to them instead? They seemed to be in their own conversation.

Rosie was utterly confused and bummed out.

"Yes, her. I thought you were aware of what I did? Isn't that all you live for, seeing me lose?" He chuckled, sealing his nerves away in the back of his mind. He wasn't wrong, because according to his mental state, that is mostly what Adam had on his mind. Either that or being "part of something". "Would I really reveal what I think when the room speaks for itself?"

Anatole had watched the scene with nonchalant eyes, taking it all in rather than making some mischief of his own. He stood there beside Adam, watching the chaos ensue as he leaned against the wall, trying to keep his cool in front of Harringtom. He knew that take was much better than exposing how he really felt.

Oh, speaking of how he really felt...

...Blondie just had to pop the question on him. Not the "will you marry me", but just about the same level of awkwardness or anxiousness. The easy answer was no to Adam's actual question, but he felt the need to elaborate. "I knew it, Adam!" He had a nitty-gritty grin, that sort of excited grimace you get when you've waited for your friend to ask you about something you've wanted him to ask you about. "I knew you'd be that 'friend'!"

Now, he had to get real. Rosie was in the room, so it wasn't easy to avoid this. If he said something wrong, it would be Weak all over again Rosie would be sure to follow suit and come after him. It's what the spunky Huffle would do. "I like her, yeah, but as a friend. Nothing more."

He turned his face back to the blonde. "Speaking of girls, who are you going to bring to the dance?"

Adam shrugged in response to Anatole's question. He knew that he probably should've been thinking about asking someone, but at the same time, he didn't really want to. It seemed like something he shouldn't have to do until he was at least 15. Yeah, that was a good age. "I don't really know. Maybe no one. I'll probably just head down there by myself and then meet up with people once I'm inside. That's okay to do, ri--" Cutting himself off, Adam became aware that they had suddenly started talking about him and smiled. "Alright, nice one. I'll give you that. Now stop changing the subject on me!" Looking back over at Rosie, he wondered if Anatole was telling the truth.

Of course, it was totally possible -- likely, even -- that Anatole and Rosie really were just friends, and would stay friends. Adam was perfectly happy with that, and on other days would have moved along with his competition like nothing had happened. But for some reason, he had stumbled upon a very chick-flick moment, and something was pulling at him to go a little further. "Well, you could always use someone to dance with, right? As fun as this little contest has been, I know you want to go out and do other things. So do other things! Go!"

Shoving Anatole forward lightly, Adam nodded in Rosie's direction. "Come on, at least ask her. You don't have to make it a date!" Waiting to see how Anatole would respond, Adam began to realize how cliche he was acting. Of course, it was a little too late now. He wanted to see how this played out.

Well now, it was embarrassing. Rosie was just standing in a ballroom. By herself-- Well, kind of. She turned around to see Anatole and his friend speaking, about... Something? Seemed to be making one of them a bit nervous.

Rosie's nervousness on the otherhand, skyrocketed when they turned to look at her. Oh god, were they talking about her? Did she look bad or something? Was it about Rosie's dancing? She wasn't that bad, she didn't think. With a sigh, Rosie ran a hand through her hair and made a decision. They were there, anyway, right?

With that in mind, Rosie started making her way over. Her eyes fell on the ground as she walked. Their conversation started to become more clear. The ball? She had totally forgotten about it until just then. Rosie was certain she was going, but with who? Well, the answer to that question was a bit obvious. But that could be talked about at a later time.

But when Rosie was about to look up, she heard the voices a little too clearly.

"Come on, at least ask her. You don't have to make it a date!" The unfamiliar boy exclaimed, a little excited and proud of himself, it seemed.

And when Rosie looked up,

the more familiar boy was already there right in front of her. Uh oh.

"You don't have to make it a date!"

That was something pretty hilarious Adam said. Laughable, even. Funny enough to make Anatole break out laughing and even cry. Anatole clearly had no intentions to make it a date, and Adam should've known he wasn't into love. What he said had no influence upon the Gryffindor.

However, the shove did.

Not expecting it, Anatole flew towards the girl, narrowly picking up his robe to avoid tripping. One day, he'd grow into it, but that day was not today. He took a breath, brushing his hair aside and smiling at the girl, looking back to Adam to see if that little jerk was happy what what he did. His eyes read scorn when he turned around toward the Ravenclaw, but they read happiness and a slight hint of annoyance (at Adam, however) when he turned toward the Hufflepuff. Scratching his head, he waved at Rosie. "Well, uh, hi!" He sheepishly fidgeted with his scarf, immediately slapping himself out of being weird and nervous. She was Rosie Parker, one of his best friends from the first day forward!

She was Rosie Parker, and he was Anatole Evans. The terrible thing is that they were both being watched by a diabolical Adam.

After he greeted, Anatole placed his hands behind him as he swore to make this moment better. "So! How are you? Were things super bad in here with Kaegen? I know he gets a little strange sometimes, and maybe we walked in at the wrong time or something, but I hope you're alright."

Noticing Anatole's nervous expression made Rosie smile a bit. Anatole was cute, no doubt about that. Though if she said that in front of him, he'd probably make some speech about how he's handsome, like some pristine prince in England. She looked past him to peer at the unfamiliar boy, who looked very proud of himself. The smile grew at his mischievous grin. Rosie finally turned back to Anatole and couldn't help but notice his robe was still too long. Poor him. It made him look like a grandmother with a very long robe nighty.

"Hey! Hi." Rosie stuttered out, a little nervous since Anatole's appeared before she could prepare herself. Why was she so nervous? They were best friends. Rosie fiddled with her hands a bit, her palms had dents from her nails from when she was clenching her fists. She tried her best to hide it from him. With that, she put her hands behind her back and grinned at him. Usually they could make each other happier in any situation, at least he made her happier. Was that weird? No.. No it couldn't have been. They were friends. Friends make each other happy.

So, Anatole did what Anatole does, he asked questions. Rosie took a second to repeat them in her head, and address all of them. "I'm fine. And.. That's his name? Kaegen? Didn't know that." She shrugged. "No we just had a rough introduction, that's all. I'm good. You actually came in at like... The best time. Cause I was just standing there... On my own." Rosie's voice faded. "I must've looked like a loser." She chuckled lightly.

There was a tingling sensation on his back as he felt Adam's eyes, slowly watching his every move and possibly hearing every sound emitting from the conversation. It didn't rattle the boy like it used to, for when Adam was around he tended to man up, but love used to be a whole different situation. He requested that he ask her out...but how? Anatole despised the concept. Even though he would love to be dancing with fine women, he affirmed what childish faith he had in the thought that the dance was the one that portrayed the illusion of love, not the dancers. Yes, they worked, but they did not have to be in love themselves. Besides, it was all too young to have a girlfriend, wasn't it?

Thankfully, he had begun the conversation with the last thing he thought of when it came to love: Kaegen Deathmote. Maybe, to not face the playful wrath of Adam (in which Anatole would happily stand up against), he could segway into the topic of love later.

He wiped the sweat off of his face with his robe as he returned his shaky gaze toward her. "Oh, really? You and Kaegen haven't met...? My introduction with him is probably more awkward than yours was, I bet. He's even given Adam and I..." Anatole hated saying this part, "...nicknames." He snickered as well, clearing his throat. "Really? Well...uh, blame Adam. He brought me here. I'm sure you weren't a loser! Kaegen...probably wouldn't judge..." Make the move, make the move. No Adam wrath! "Which reminds me..." Now that another thought raced through his mind, Anatole knew he wouldn't, shouldn't even, take the obvious route of just saying she was such a great friend but he wasn't ready. So, the tanned boy made it subtle. "...I think we should dance again. Soon."

[FONT=Book Antiqua] And for the entire time, Rosie kept on a soft smile. It was just a given when she was around her best friend. She fiddled with her robe sleeves as he talked, nodding to his words until she was given a chance to respond. She always liked listening to Anatole talk, while she was very talkative herself, he always gave new and exciting things to babble on about. They added on to each other's sentences, and it seemed to go on for ages. Rosie wouldn't have it any other way with him, they really were two peas in a pod.

"Yeah, uh.. Kaegen just sad some close minded stuff about my grandma, I.. Kinda blew up on him, but it's good." Rosie blushed, thinking back on it. It was kinda embarrassing to think of herself yelling at someone like that, when she never usually did, her grandma was a soft spot. And it didn't take an idiot to tell Rosie was growing more accustomed to anger as she grew throughout the months. Not to the point of anger issues, but her friends punching people did bring an impact on her. "I bet your nicknames are cute though," she teased, giggling a bit. Rosie put Adam's name in the back of her mind for later, so she'd remember. She didn't end up remembering it.

Suddenly, for some odd reason, Anatole seemed nervous. She tilted her head as he slowly said what he wanted to say. Rosie blinked a few times and grinned. "Yeah! I'd love to dance with you again, I kinda need practice for the ball, I'm sure you've heard about it by now." She said, hopping from foot to foot. "I mean, it's gonna be a big room of people just dancing, can you image something better?" Rosie spread her arms and spun around. She got very excited about dancing, if that wasn't obvious enough. But more than anything, Rosie was excited about the ball.

The ball was told to be something great and something to be excited for. Of course, you needed a date. Which Rosie didn't find romantic in the slightest unlike a certain someone when the time came and planned on showing off her ballad skills at the party. It made her excited just to think about what was gonna happen!

Adam had forced him into one of the most nerve-racking conversations of his short, young life. Girls were weird, like him, and Rosie seemed to click. She was sweet, and Anatole hated to say it, but the competition between him and Adam had to get done sometime (and of course, knowing him, he was growing bored and would pull him out sooner or later). He wanted to say that he had to go, but in the kindest way possible. Which would require one of the hardest things for a Gryffindor boy to do: think.

"Oh yeah...that sounds like something he would do, really." A segway here would be nice. "I'm sure Adam would be more than happy to agree. He's a bit of a weird boy..." Anatole chuckled, looking back into her eyes. "Hey Blondie! You want to tell Rosie your nickname?" This would give Adam a reason to step into the conversation or yank him out, whichever came first. Anatole was aware Adam, like Corridor Kid himself, despised his nickname. He had to keep his image up if he was going to beat Harringtom. "I'll let you know that my nickname is very, very far from cute." This topic warmed him up a bit.

She was eager to practice! Yay! Good start. He had missed it all, and day by day, his excitement grew for the pinnacle of the season: the ball. "Oh, of course I've heard about it...there's barely a soul who doesn't. It seems...well, perfect. Flawless. Have you taken a good look at this ballroom?!?" He cracked a smile. "I...It's going to be great. I can feel it."