The Start Of A New Chapter PV Alexa Hale Finished

Damn, that was a lot of pressure. Apparently, Alexa wanted her to decide what they were going to talk about next. Inwardly, Renelle was screaming: You want me to keep the conversation going? Do I seem like a conversation person to you? I thought you were the one good at this sort of thing, why can’t you do it?

‘Uhh..’ Renelle’s mind felt like a bunch of little people were running around inside in a blind panic, yelling mindlessly: They want us to be social? We’re doomed!. ‘I really don’t know. You’re the social one, you think of something.’

Yes, she was aware that last part might have seemed a little rude. Renelle had never been one to care that much however, and disliked sugarcoating what she wanted to say. She had been willing to go along with Alexa’s chat-chatting and game earlier despite her lack of enthusiasm, but that had been partly due to her own boredom.

As Renelle looked back toward Alexa expectantly, she realised with a start that the girl looked a bit similar to herself. The same dark hair, dark eyes, slightly tanned skin. They even seemed to be around the same height, though while Alexa was skinny, Renelle was slightly more athletic. Huh. That was funny.

@Alexa Hale

Alexa knew that asking Renelle to decide what they wanted to do could backfire. Alexa hoped that she would give an idea but waited to see her reaction.

‘I really don’t know. You’re the social one, you think of something.’

Alexa burst into laughter at Renelle’s words. She could sense that she had overstepped slightly by asking her to decide but she was glad that she spoke her mind. That was better than any answer she could have hoped for.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to laugh!” Alexa said while controlling her laughter. “It’s just that you’ve been trying to conceal your emotions so much the whole ride but you couldn’t hide your expression while you were panicking. I could practically see you have an internal debate with yourself. It was quite endearing to be honest.”

She tried to compose herself. Although she felt like laughing at how cute Renelle was acting, she didn’t want her to think that she was making fun of her.

“If you want me to decide… We could just talk, have a casual conversation.” She remembered Renelle’s sarcasm earlier during the ride, “Well it’ll be mostly me talking anyway but you’ll be forced to listen.” She said smiling.

As she thought about what they could talk about, her brain finally gave her a good idea. She leaned forward in her seat and asked her, “Do you know what all you want to buy from the Trolley Witch? I think she’ll be here soon!”

@Renelle Dalton

To tell the truth, Renelle was a bit offended. Not just a little bit, actually. Very. She knew that Alexa meant no harm, but if there was one thing she hated, it was people laughing at her, no matter the intent. She’d just started to feel more comfortable around this girl, and she went and pulled that? Geez, thanks.

Whatever, though. The train ride was going to be over in a few hours, and hopefully she would be sorted into different houses with this girl, and they would never see each other again. But she definitely did not want to suddenly tell this girl she didn’t want to be friends with her anymore— that would make Renelle’s life for the next six hours rather weird.

She laughed. ‘Oh, yeah. That’s me, trying to be the queen of darkness but really a marshmallow. And causal conversation sounds great. I mean, I don’t talk all that much so it all works out.’

Maybe this girl thought she could see through Renelle, but that was because she had wanted her to. It was really her way of opening up to someone, by exaggerating her emotions. Yup, that was her. Little Miss Weird Sense of Humour.

If she didn’t want people to discern what she was feeling, though, Renelle was an expert at the poker face, or acting appropriately to the setting. Not even her own family could tell sometimes— she was a really good actress.

As Renelle watched, the girl suddenly leaned forward and asked her what she wanted to buy from the Trolley Witch.

‘Hmm, maybe just a few cauldron cakes? I dunno. What’re you gonna get?’

@Alexa Hale

“I’m actually not a huge fan of sweets.” Alexa replied. “Most people expect me to like sweets because apparently there’s a connection between being outgoing and liking sweets. Unless they have anything savory, I most probably won’t have anything.”

She was glad that she had bonded with Renelle during the train ride. At least she knew someone before the Sorting Ceremony. She silently hoped that they would be in the same House, so that they could interact more and become closer as friends.

She realized that the pressure of going to Hogwarts was slowly fading the longer she spent time with Renelle. She decided to take a small nap and energize herself before the Welcome Feast. She was sure that her first experience at Hogwarts would, of course be exciting, but also tiresome.

“Well, I’m actually slightly tired now and I’m sure you’d want a break from my constant chatter. I’m going to rest my eyes for a bit. Can you wake me up when the Trolley Witch comes? I’d like to see if there are savory Pumpkin Pasties. Even if there aren’t I’m sure I’ll be rested enough to continue a conversation then.” Alexa said. “If you want to of course.” She added as an after thought.

@Renelle Dalton

Renelle had never noticed it before, but people did attribute being extrovert to liking sweets. It was a funny thing, really.

‘Yeah, I know.’ She shrugged, ‘I mean, I do like sweets, but I’m not that outgoing. It’s funny how liking sweets is perceived as being an extrovert sometimes.’ Her blood sugar was probably at 6.5%, but sweets were worth it.

After a while, Alexa announced that she was going to take a nap, reminding Renelle to wake her up when the trolley witch came, to witch she nodded. As soon as Alexa dozed off, she turned back toward the window. It was high noon now— the sun was so bright it almost hurt to look out.

It was really such a shame that Alexa had laughed at her. She had genuinely liked her. Perhaps onlookers may perceive Renelle as being over dramatic, but she couldn’t help it. The funny thing was, she’d had no kind of childhood trauma that strange adults always assumed of, nothing had happened to make her so cold. She just hated the feeling of not being taken seriously, even if it wasn’t really what Alexa had intended.

Before long, Renelle heard the sound of the infamous lunch trolley being pushed down the aisle. From the distance of the sound, she calculated that they had about three minutes before the trolley witch knocked on their compartment door. She cautiously half stood up, and tapped Alexa on the shoulder. ‘The trolley’s almost here.’

@Alexa Hale

Alexa had gone into quite a deep sleep. She was dreaming about her home in the countryside, the lush greenery and peacefulness of it all. All of a sudden, she was startled awake from her dream, as Renelle tapped Alexa on the shoulder.

“The trolley’s almost here.” She said.

Alexa took a few seconds to remember where she was. That usually happened when she slept. It was like she completely dissociated from reality. She rubbed her eyes and shook herself awake, and went to unlock her trunk in order to get money for the food.

The Trolley Witch arrived not soon after, and Alexa and Renelle both bought Pumpkin Pasties and Cauldron Cakes respectively. As they were eating, Alexa decided to continue their conversation.

“So, which House do you think we’ll be sorted in? I’ve heard that the sorting process is quite grand. And that the House you get sorted into, will practically be our second home. As I said before I think you’ll be a Ravenclaw but I’m actually not sure which House I would be sorted into.” She confided.

It was something Alexa had been actively thinking about for months now. Her mother, being the Hufflepuff she was, was overenthusiastic and supportive and told her that the House she was sorted in wouldn’t matter too much. But in her heart, Alexa knew that the Sorting would change her, it would highlight a part of herself which was most evident, and showcase it to the whole school and not knowing what it could be was nagging at her mind. She trusted Renelle to give her an honest opinion and looked forward to what she would say.

@Renelle Dalton

Renelle wanted to kiss whoever invented Cauldron Cakes. Well, maybe not kiss, but at least hug. Or perhaps a hearty handshake.

She was so busy savouring every inch of her cauldron cakes, Renelle didn’t even notice at first when Alexa decided to continue her conversation. Apparently, she wanted to know what house Renelle thought she was going to be sorted in.

“Uhh, not sure.” With her mom being in Ravenclaw and her dad a Gryffindor, she had always assumed she would be sorted into one of those two houses, but had never given much thought as to which. It would certainly be something if I got sorted into Slytherin, she thought, rather amusedly.

“Probably Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.” Renelle dismissed. “And I think you might get into Hufflepuff, since you’re so nice. Gryffindors are pretty friendly too, so maybe that.”

It was a funny thing, but Renelle wasn’t particularly stressed about the house she was going to get sorted into. It was weird, since she knew that it was quite important. For the next seven years, she would stay in the same house, and it would most likely stay with her all throughout her life, along with the stereotypes of each house.

But it wasn’t like Renelle could exactly control the house she was going to end up in— that was the infamous sorting hat’s job.

@Alexa Hale

Alexa felt happy that Renelle thought that she was friendly, she did try to be welcoming and to see that being appreciated was always a nice feeling. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor seemed like great choices as well, and she couldn’t wait to see which House the Sorting Hat was deem her worthy to be in.

As they were eating, Alexa noticed that Renelle was enjoying her Cauldron Cakes a lot. She had mentioned that she enjoyed sweets but that must have been an understatement because Renelle looked like she was in heaven.

After Alexa was done eating, she tidied up the carriage as best as she could. She was quite uncomfortable when something was unclean or messy. She preferred her things to be neat and organized. After that, Alexa decided to look out of the window again, and shared a comfortable silence with Renelle. Soon, she could make out the hazy shape of the Hogwarts castle in the distance, and her heart started thumping with excitement. She nearly jumped out her seat and said, “Look Renelle! We’re almost at Hogwarts!”

She was so curious about what the building would look like that she kept staring at the building, not looking at the reaction of the girl behind her. She was beyond excited and could barely sit still in her seat. Although she couldn’t see the castle clearly, she knew that they were close by.

@Renelle Dalton

This was it. They were at Hogwarts.

As Renelle stated out the window at the barely distinguishable shape of the Hogwarts castle, she found she could hardly breathe. It all felt so surreal. Perhaps the only reason the girl hadn’t been worried about the sorting and her new life was simply because it hadn’t fully dawned on her yet, and now, with the dark outline of the looming castle becoming clearer and clearer, Renelle could no longer push it away— she was really going to Hogwarts.

Barely noticing Alexa jumping up and down and gushing at her about the school, Renelle stood up as well, and pressed her face into the glass. It was her first look at her second home for the next seven years, and she was going to make the most of it.

‘Wow.’ She whispered.

It want until a few minutes later that Renelle gained her senses back. She sat back down almost immediately, then stood up again almost as quickly. ‘We should probably start getting ready to get off’’ she told Alexa, and started stuffing her leftover sweets into her pockets. Who knew when the next time they could indulge in sugary foods would come.

@Alexa Hale

Alexa nodded at Renelle and began to collect all her belongings, before leaving the train. As soon as she opened the compartment door, she saw a crowd of students, hurrying to leave the train. She realized that she had appreciated the quietness of the carriage as compared to the madness that awaited her on the station.

She got off, Renelle not far behind her, as they searched for where to go next.

“First years over here! First years!” she heard a woman yell. She turned around, trying to see who was yelling and she saw a woman, who looked like she was in her mid-thirties.

That must be Finley Greer, she thought. Her mother had told her that she was a relatively new caretaker, but as always, she should respect her and treat her with kindness.

She pointed at Finley and gestured at Renelle to follow her. Seeing as they were first years, Finley gave them a greeting and continued to call for the other first years.

Alexa took a few deep breaths. It was finally happening. She was at Hogwarts. She looked around and saw all the other students acknowledging each other, some with a nod of their head and others hugging and laughing together. Their time at Hogwarts had bonded them together, and Alexa only hoped that she would find someone like family here.

At that thought she turned to Renelle. Of course, she was the first person Alexa thought of. It wasn’t only because she didn’t know anyone else, but she had felt a connection with her and had enjoyed her company.

“So,” Alexa asked Renelle, “we’re finally here. How do you feel?”

@Renelle Dalton