At her words, Alexa smiled even wider than before and looked even more pleased than before. Impressive, since Renelle hasn’t thought it was possible. The girl seemed to be almost bursting with excitement. She mused that if anyone were to look inside this compartment now, they would see quite a strange sight—two girls facing each other, one glowing with exhilaration, the other expressionless. Fun to think about.

The girl- right, Alexa, appeared to be thinking intently, most likely on ‘FUN WAYS TO KNOW YOUR NEW FRIEND’. Finally, she voiced an idea.

“How about we make it a game? We could tell each other 2 truths and 1 lie and we have to guess which the lie is.”

No kidding, the moment are Renelle heard the girl’s game, she hated it. Telling a stranger personal information about herself? She knew how paranoid she sounded right now, but it really was true. This game definitely did not seem like Renelle’s cup of tea.

Nevertheless, she did not particularly want to give someone she was going to be trapped with for the next seven hours and fifty-five minutes that she was crazy. So, Renelle gave the girl another forced smile. ‘Yes, that sounds… great. Would you like to go first?’

@Alexa Hale

Ever since she was little, Renelle had hated being put on the spot. It didn’t make much sense considering her mother was a high-ranking Ministry official and dealing with complaints against herself was part of her work, it maybe Renelle had just gotten lucky and inherited her dad’s gene when it came to that particular aspect. She had never been fond of someone right in front of her, asking her if she was disliked them, or wasn’t very into some conversation they were having. And both of those were happening right now.

Renelle stared at the girl in front of her. To say she was taken aback by what she just said would be an understatement. Up until now, Renelle had been under the impression that Alexa was just a talkative girl, but now she realised that she also wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, extremely straightforward. To tell the truth, she kind of admired that. Their exchanges up until now had been proof that Renelle herself wasn’t the most outspoken person herself, at least in issues that didn’t matter that much to her.

‘No, no.’ Renelle peered intently at the girl. For perhaps the first time since this conversation had started, Alexa had her full attention. ‘You were really very nice. I apologise if I seemed put off. I really do think the game sounds fun.’

@Alexa Hale

Renelle seemed taken aback by her words. Her face morphed into one of pure shock and it was almost comical. Alexa had to hold back a smile. This was probably the most emotion she showed during the train ride. Perhaps Alexa had been too straightforward, but she did not like being in the dark. She would prefer people to be honest to her face rather than talk behind her back.

“No, no. You were really very nice. I apologise if I seemed put off. I really do think the game sounds fun.’ Renelle replied. She looked at Alexa intently, as if seeing her properly for the first time. Alexa took is as an achievement.

She smiled again and said, “Well I guess I’ll start then!”

She let her mind wander again, thinking about which memories in her life she could share first. She decided to share things that were slightly personal but not too intrusive. She thought that in order to make Renelle more comfortable, she must share something about herself first.

“The first statement is that I have a Muggle father. Second, I used to dance ballet for 2 years, and third, I have a scar on my left arm.”

She sat back, a small smile on her face, as she looked forward to Renelle’s response.

@Renelle Dalton

Renelle liked to think that she was quite smart— maybe not as much as the infamous Hermione Granger, but all right. She’d always been good at clear, logical thinking, and that was really all you needed to play this game.

Alexa had given out three statements, one of which was false, and was now leaning back, looking pleased with herself. Now, think, Renelle. This game can’t be very hard.

The first statement was that Alexa had a Muggle father. Of course, never having seen the girl before, Renelle did not know anything about her family, but if she had to guess, she would say that this was true. It was lightly linked to the last sentence— that Alexa had a scar on her left arm. If her father was a Muggle, that would explain why the scar was still there and not taken away by magic. Perhaps the girl was Muggle-born?

According to this logic, the second statement would be false, which made perfect sense. Although she had never played this game before, Renelle thought that the part about her dancing ballet for two years seemed rather vague and very much like something one made up to fill up the ‘one lie’ part of this game.

‘The first and third are the truths,’ Renelle said slowly. ‘And the second one is the lie.’ She looked up at Alexa to see if she had gotten it right.

@Alexa Hale

Alexa was sure that she looked animated by how shocked she was but the fact that Renelle had guessed the lie, almost immediately, completely shook her. She didn’t think that she was that much of an open book, so that must mean that Renelle was just incredibly smart and perceptive. She realized that the reason she was so quiet was that she was observant about her surroundings and the people around her and that was something Alexa could respect. She looked at Renelle with newfound admiration.

“You got it right! How did you get it right?? You made it seem as though it was obvious although we have barely known each other for a few minutes!” Alexa asked her, not even attempting to hide her disbelief.

“You know, you would make a great Ravenclaw with how smart you are.” Alexa told her. She really meant it. She could totally see Renelle getting into Ravenclaw, but she could only wonder which House the Sorting Hat would put her in.

She shook her head and looked at Renelle, waiting for her question and could only hope that she didn’t embarrass herself. Well, even if she did, she hoped to get a laugh out of Renelle, so hopefully this could be a win-win situation.

“Well, it’s your turn now.”

@Renelle Dalton

For the first time since Alexa got into this compartment, Renelle completely forgot how much she despised social interactions, and had to fight hard to keep a huge smile off her face. Call her egotistic, but she’d always liked compliments, at least ones that were given truthfully with actual reasoning, not empty comments like,' Oh, you look so nice today!’

‘I know, I’m a genius. ‘Renelle faked a modest look (hopefully Alexa would know she was making a joke and not just full of herself). ‘And my mom actually was a Ravenclaw, so I suppose that’s certainly possible.’ She paused, wondering if she ought to give Alexa a house she might get into. If she had to guess, it might be Hufflepuff, with how nice she was, but eventually decided on just focusing on the game.

‘Um, let’s see.’ She racked her brain for something to say. Renelle certainly wasn’t going to include anything way too personal yet, though if she suspected that if she would do it with someone, it would be Alexa.

‘Oh, right.’ Renelle took a deep breath. ‘My mom is a writer, my grandfather is from Ireland, and… I can play a little bit of guitar.’ She looked toward Alexa for her answer.

@Alexa Hale

‘I know, I’m a genius. And my mom actually was a Ravenclaw, so I suppose that’s certainly possible.’ said Renelle.

To say that Alexa was happy that Renelle was being sarcastic with her, was an understatement. She could see that Renelle was slowly coming out of her shell, and showing more of her personality. At least now that Alexa knew she could take a joke, she could afford to be sarcastic to her as well, although she figured it might be a while before she said anything too sarcastic. Although Alexa was quite an affectionate person, being able to insult someone in a friendly way did bring a whole new dimension to friendships.

‘My mom is a writer, my grandfather is from Ireland, and… I can play a little bit of guitar.’ Renelle said, as she looked at Alexa expectantly.

Alexa noticed how she slightly stuttered at the last sentence and figured that it would be most probable that it was a lie. But in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but wish it were true. She imagined singing duets with Renelle, while both played on their guitars and the thought of it made her happy.

But then she thought back to what Renelle had said. Her mother was a Ravenclaw. It was probably a stretch but Alexa suspected that she would have a ministry job instead of being a writer. She could have been a writer for the Prophet, or any other newspaper of course. But Alexa really hoped that the third statement would be true and was trying to convince herself of that fact.

“I will say that the first statement is a lie.” She looked at Renelle, hoping that her intuition was correct.

@Renelle Dalton

Renelle raised an eyebrow. ‘Congratulations, your answer is correct.’

To tell the truth, she was rather surprised at this girl being able to detect her lie. She thought that she had woven it all together quite nicely— after all, if her mom was a Ravenclaw, it would be quite likely she was a writer as well. While she was a bit miffed by Alexa seeing through her charade, it did rather thrill her, the thought of someone else being just as smart as herself.

Though now Renelle wasn’t really sure what she was supposed to do. They had both gone once— did that mean they would lapse back into the uncomfortable silence of earlier? Of course, that would be the best. After all, she had not been the one to initiate the game, and she had decided a long time ago that getting to know anyone or making friends was overrated— or was it?

Looking at all this from a logical point of view, perhaps it would be in her best interest to have someone with her as she went into a new school. Renelle had heard from her parents that Hogwarts was huge and complicated to manoeuvre, and that it was extremely likely for her to get lost. Wouldn’t having a friend help her with that? And there was no doubt that there would be projects or events in Hogwarts that required a partner.

Besides, a tiny part of Renelle knew that she did want to talk to Alexa, not just cause it would make her introduction into a brand new school more comfortable, but also because she did like her. Not just logical. Personal.

Ugh. What had she come to.

Having made up her decision, Renelle decided to try and keep their conversation going instead of going to stare out the window again (which, as much as she didn’t want to admit, was a bit boring.)

‘So,’ Renelle said awkwardly. ‘Should I go again, or….?’

@Alexa Hale

Alexa smiled brightly. Her guess had been correct! She was glad that she had been able to impress Renelle and not make herself seem like a fool. But at the back of her mind, she was jumping with joy. Renelle could play the guitar! She would definitely ask her if she wanted to play together soon.

Soon after, the carriage filled with silence again. Renelle seemed as though she was thinking about something and Alexa did not want to interrupt. Although she was curious as to what she was thinking about, Alexa kept her mouth shut and waited for Renelle to speak her mind.

‘So,’ Renelle said after a while, ‘Should I go again, or….?’

Alexa looked at her, realization finally dawning on her. Renelle wasn’t sure on how to continue the conversation. She never ceased to surprise her. Alexa couldn’t help but be happy that she was attempting to try at least. She had made an effort to talk to Alexa first and that made all the difference.

Renelle seemed like a genuinely nice person and Alexa was glad that she was the first person she met on the Express. Her shy and slightly cold demeanor hid a smart, talented and sarcastic witch and she was glad that Renelle felt comfortable enough to open herself to Alexa. She would hope that they were friends but she decided to leave that question for a later time.

“Well,” Alexa said, “we could continue the game if you wanted to. Or we could just... talk. About anything really. We could talk about Hogwarts, ourselves, food, or anything in between. But I’ll leave it up to you to decide.”

@Renelle Dalton