Summer Camp Swimming in the Lake Open Closed

Mentions: @Carson Miller & @Jay Azul

Annie tilted her head to listen as Carson spoke and turned to leave but stopped. “And, uh, if you guys wanna sit with us or something, go for it.” She nodded her head and gave a small smile and wave. "Thanks for the offer but I think we're good for now." Her smile widened as she turned her attention back to Jay.

Annie's expression softened as he spoke. "No worries, Annie. Believe me, I'm one who understands situations where your mind takes over a bit without your realization. In fact, people tend to think I'm rather odd where I come from." She laughed lightly at his words. "Thanks for understand me, I can be complicated, and as far as I'm aware, being odd isn't such a bad thing, I mean we're at a school for witches and wizards and to some ordinary muggle this would be odd." Jay seemed to be in deep thought about something as he gazed off to where Carson and a girl, presumably Charlotte sat. Annie perked up at a thought. "Can you feel the connection too? It's obvious to look at but they seem to conduct really well with each other.."

She pondered for a bit before getting up off the grass to turn to glance at Jay who was already almost in the lake. "So what are we waiting for?" Annie put her hands on her hips before yelling. "I have short legs you idiot, wait for me!" Without hesitating she ran and leaped into the lake, splashing Jay. She emerged on the surface, her entire body soaked before sticking her tongue out and grinning. Annie mouthed the words 'this means war' before pummeling him with waves of water.

Sorry if my writing is all over the place I started this yesterday but didn't finish due to being exhausted. Wow my writing really changes depending on my level of tiredness or my mood.

@Oliver Lock

The low hum of chatter buzzed from the shore of the Great Lake, and the sun setting over the scene made it seem like it was out of a storybook. A shriek interrupted the serenity, followed by a loud splash. Maggie Parker, once again, was very thankful that she was wearing a swimsuit.

“Rude!” she gasped, pushing her soaking hair out of her eyes as she stood. Glaring at Oliver playfully, she doused him in water, giggling as she did so. He retaliated, splashing her with water once again.

“Ten points from Hufflepuff!” she joked, doing a frankly terrible impression of a Professor. By the time her and Oliver had finished their “splash-war”, both were soaking wet, though Maggie supposed that was more of a problem for Oliver than it was for her, as he was wearing actual clothes and not a swimsuit like Maggie was. His white t-shirt was soaked, and slightly see-through, clinging to his form as he once again splashed water at her. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks, and she quickly distracted herself by dousing Oliver in lake water once again.
———
Maggie grinned in triumph when Oliver finally admitted defeat, slightly out of breath as he did so. Maggie was in a similar condition, though she suspected she’d get over it soon enough. The sun was setting over the lake, however, and Maggie couldn’t help but notice the tiredness and exhaustion gripping at her, which was trampled, however, by the hunger growling in her stomach.

“Pretty hungry after that.” Oliver commented, rubbing the back of his neck. He glanced towards Maggie, who practically melted as he peered at her through chocolate brown orbs and thick lashes. “Subtle, aren’t I?” he joked, gesturing towards the BBQ as he did so.

“Care to join me, Miss Parker?” he asked, his voice playful and joking. He extended his arm, and Maggie looped her arm through his, responding in an equally dapper tone,

“Don’t mind if I do, Mr. Lock.” With that, the two strolled off towards the BBQ, Maggie stopping to slip on her shirt and sandals before continuing towards the wonderful smell of food.

Before he set off for the lake, he heard Annie's comment.
"Thanks for understand me, I can be complicated, and as far as I'm aware, being odd isn't such a bad thing, I mean we're at a school for witches and wizards and to some ordinary muggle this would be odd."
He smiled at her words. He had never really been bothered by his peers thinking he was odd; in fact, there was a definite part of him that actually enjoyed it. He had quite a bit of fun being himself, and possessed no interest in being like everyone else around him. Although, he had never considered her point that, frankly, none of the people at this school were really "normal." Maybe odd was the real normal in a place like this.

Now, as he passed Annie by and made for the lake, he heard her voice call from behind him.
"I have short legs you idiot, wait for me!"
Stopping with the water only just lapping at his toes, he turned back the way he had come, only to see a blur of movement as Annie streaked past him, jumping into the lake and sending a rather large spray of water over his legs. He recoiled involuntarily as the cold water found his unsuspecting bare legs, looking up just in time to catch Annie's silent declaration of war. Only half a nervous grin reached his mouth before another splash of water hit him full in the face, followed by many of its friends.

Coughing and spluttering the whole way, he scrambled into the lake until he was waist deep in the water, giving him plenty of ammunition to fight back. There was one slight issue, however, and that was the fact that, with the constant barrage of spectacularly aimed water punishing his face, he really couldn't see a darn thing, and any attempts to wipe his eyes merely gave his assailant more time to send more of the offending waves his way. But he had to fight back somehow; he was already thoroughly soaked, and he hadn't even gotten into the fight yet.
Finding no other option, he simply pinpointed the direction the water was coming from and began sending waves of his own that way in hopes of a successful retaliation.
"You may have the upper hand," he sputtered, "but my determination can't be m-" at that precise moment, a particularly large splash from Annie deposited itself into his mouth and down his throat, eliciting a fit of hacking coughs from him.
So talking while being bombarded in the face with water was a bad idea... go figure.
He continued in the fight through it all, however. His "determination" and all that.

@Jay Azul

Annie snorted to herself as Jay stood in the water, frozen in place before she launched into attack mode. She giggled all the while, seeing him get wave after wave splashed in his direction. After splashing for a bit, Annie found that her arms and legs started to get tired and her movements slowed. She paused to catch her breath while treading water. Her body was now soaked with water from the backfire of her splashes which caused her to rub her eyes and frown. Annie blinked a few times before hearing Jay shout something at her. "You may have the upper hand," "but my determination can't be m-" She freaked out, knowing her victory was coming to an end. "No I don't want to face your wrath, your too strong, this isn't how I wanted to die, I'm too young!" Annie dramatically called out before stopping to hear a fit of coughs coming from Jay. Instantly alerted by his choking she swam over and started patting him on the back like her mom did to her when she was younger. "Are you alright you big baby? This better not be a trap.." She frowned, still con earned for her coughing friend before realizing how close her face was to Jay's. A small blush crept on her face and she put a but of distance between them and turned away from him awkwardly. She cleared her throat. "Uhm.. should we head back to land?"

Carson had propped himself up on his forearms, his legs stretched out in front of him. He raised his eyebrows when Charlotte shook her head no, surprise coating his features. Maggie was probably going to tell her soon, anyways, she was her cousin after all.

Um -- Carson? Do you-- Would you want to come swim with me a little? My foot... It doesn't hurt anymore.' Charlotte asked, looking towards Carson shyly. Carson felt a goofy grin spread across his face, and he nodded his head, getting up from his position on the sand and holding a hand out for Charlotte to take.

“You sure your foot’s alright?” Carson asked, sorry sleeping into his tone. “I mean, not that I don’t want you to swim with me or anything but, y’know, if it’s still hurt...” he trailed off, rambling slightly. He and Charlotte walked down towards the lake, a few yards away from Maggie and Oliver, who were having an intense splash war, and Annie and Jay, who seemed to be doing the same thing.

“They’re hitting it off, aren’t they?” Carson asked Charlotte, nodding towards Oliver and Maggie, an amused smile on his face. “I’m glad, though, seems like they’ve both liked eachother since, well, forever.” He rolled his eyes, laughing. It was frustrating to see the two of his friends so oblivious to the other’s feelings, though it seemed like they were catching on, right?

“It’s so frustrating, I mean, how could they be that blind?” he laughed, glancing down to Charlotte. He’d know if she liked him, that’s for sure. He was always staring at her anyways, how could he not notice if she was looking back? Point is, if Charlotte Cadunt liked him, he would be the first to know.

Jay vaguely registered Annie's cry, begging him for mercy. He may have been amused by such a dramatic act if he weren't currently hacking up a lung. He was forced to stop his return assault as the fit lasted longer than he thought it had any right to, and he held up a finger to Annie in a gesture that he figured quite obviously sent the message, "I'll show you my wrath when I recover, assuming I survive."
Despite the gesture, he soon felt her presence beside him, her hand patting his back in an effort to relieve the coughing fit.

Finally he regained control of himself, clearing his throat one last time before letting out a "Whew..."
As he did so, he heard Annie speak, "Are you alright you big baby? This better not be a trap.."
A trap? How ingenious! He found a part of him ever so slightly wishing that it had been a trap, which would mean that he hadn't been so quickly thwarted in this water fight. But the fact was, Jay just wasn't quite so conniving, nor was he that kind of personality; he much preferred to be trusted by those around him.

As he straightened up and turned to Annie, he was rather shocked to find her face so close to his, and such shock caused him to enter into a bit of a stupor- he simply wasn't sure what to do about this rare predicament. While he certainly didn't dislike the situation and didn't feel the need to separate immediately, he still fell pray to those debilitating butterflies that always seemed to spring up in one's chest and stomach at being so close to a pretty girl.
While he simply froze, seemingly paralyzed by nerves, Annie blushed and drew away from him, turning away.
"Uhm.. should we head back to land?"
This snapped him out of his little dreamland, and he stood up a little straighter, the butterflies still lingering.
"Sure... if you want to," he replied slowly, then grinned sheepishly at her. "I'm thoroughly cooled off, that's for sure."

The grin persisted to stay on his face after he spoke, seemingly forced to stay by something deep inside him, that something connected to the rapid beat of his heart. Despite this feeling, though, he couldn't help but be a bit perturbed at the way it had all come about- having been sent into an awful fit of coughing at the very beginning of a splash war, so hopelessly vanquished that it was relatively pathetic in his mind. And then those words uttered by Annie herself... "Are you all right you big baby?"
Big baby... Jay's fragile pride was in serious danger.

Mentions: @Jay Azul

Annie took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves before turning back to Jay, completely ignoring what just happened. She didn't dare make eye contact or she was pretty sure she would freak out again. Annie covered her face with her hands.

She had laughed so hard at him when he flatly flipped her off instead of splashing her due to his sudden cough attack. Soon, she moved her hands from her eyes and her expression relaxed when he finally stopped coughing. Then came the rollercoaster of emotions when he recovered and noticed how close they had been.

Annie shook her head after replaying the whole scene in her mind. She decided to swim back to him, but not nearly as close so she could hear him respond to her question. "Sure... if you want to," "I'm thoroughly cooled off, that's for sure. Her eyes widened at his smirk, it was quite charming, in an annoying and kinda adorable way. Annie's light blush deepened to a full crimson and her ears turned a deep shade of red like they had when she yelled at him earlier.

A quick idea popped into her head as she leaned in closer to him. "Jay I.. she hesitated, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and biting her lip. hate you!" Her facial expression turned into a mischievous grin, the blush still on her face as she splashed Jay. Annie turned around and kicked her legs, swimming back to shore. Adrenaline rushed through her and her heart beat rapidly.

Despite his oblivious nature, Jay did notice the already present blush on Annie's face deepen to a darker shade of red, and yet his nature still persisted, as he wasn't certain what he had done to cause such a thing.
He quite obviously had a romantic side, and this led him to put himself in many situations where spending time with girls was inevitable. However, he had never gotten quite so close to one of them before, and it had brought about this rather strange feeling, one that he wasn't quite sure what to do about. Despite his confusion, however, the feeling seemed almost familiar- like when a girl he considered beautiful would walk into the room, only stronger than that. All of it wasn't helped by the fact that Annie leaned in again, not quite so close this time, but close enough to further add to his mental disarray.

"Jay I.. hate you!" she blurted before swimming off toward the shore, leaving him alone with a highly puzzled look on his face.
Well... that's not what I was expecting... he thought dully. But then again, what had he been expecting? He simply had no clue at this point.

Attempting to leave his befuddlement behind, he followed Annie, making his own way to shore.
Feet hitting the dry sand, he moved to stand a couple paces away from Annie. As he got there, he realized with dismay that he wasn't at all sure what to say, a feeling that was foreign to him. If there was one thing everyone knew about Jay, it was the fact that he just about always had something to say.
Plopping himself down on the sand, he took a moment to appreciate its warmth, then ran a hand through his hair, pushing his wet bangs up and out of where they had been dangling in his eyes.
"So, Annie," he began mildly, grasping for something to start a new conversation. "What's it like being a Hufflepuff? Or even attending Hogwarts?" Warming up to this new subject, he thought up another question. "And what kind of people generally get sorted into Hufflepuff?"
He figured the last question was a good way to satisfy a bit of curiosity on the subject of the Hogwarts houses and learn more about Annie at the same time.

The air was crisp and the sun beamed down, glistening on the beautiful, blue lake. The grass was a gorgeous green and looked at if the groundskeepers had cut it just the morning before. Children between the ages of eleven and seventeen were spread in every direction, some swimming in the cool water, others eating on picnic blankets. One boy was even sitting in a nearby tree.

Dressed in jean shorts, a red t-shirt and a light-weight yellow cardigan that her mother had picked out for her, Victoria stood on the shore, taking in all of the brand new sights and sounds. She couldn't believe that she was really here. Although school was still months away, this was it. This was her home now and these magical children were her people. She had finally made it to Hogwarts - the ultimate adventure for an eleven year old, such as herself, and her biggest dream ever since the day that she heard about it.

Victoria pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail and headed up to the picnic area, smiling. She couldn't wait to see where the next seven years of adventures would take her and she couldn't wait to see who she would be spending them with. Her sister Adelaine was her best friend and partner in crime. However, Adelaine, at the age of nine, would not be able to join her for another two years, so she would have to find more partners in crime for the time being. Finally making her way to the picnic area, she saw a delicious looking spread of food that she suddenly longed for. Next to the spread was another child that seemed approachable enough.

"Good morning to you," Victoria beamed at her potential new friend. "My name is Victoria. Would you mind terribly if I joined you?"

Mentions: @Jay Azul

Annie made her way to the shore. She sat on the edge to catch her breath. As soon as the Hufflepuff relaxed Jay came up and splashed a little water on her. Annie tended up and almost fell face forward into the water but caught herself. "Are you trying to scare me?" She turned to face him, her face finally back to it's normal color. "About what I said before, I was just playing, I can act childish sometimes.. sorry if I confused you." Annie grinned sheepishly and shyly glanced at him to see his hands running through his wet hair. "What is going on with my mind and body? I- I've never acted so 'silly'around a boy before!" A small frown appeared on her face but quickly she cleared her thoughts and peered out at the lake with a sigh.

"What's it like being a Hufflepuff? Or even attending Hogwarts?" She pulled her legs up to her chest in deep thought about Jay's question. "Well, everyone is super friendly so far, not just Hufflepuff but all the houses." Annie paused. "As for going to Hogwarts and being sorted into Hufflepuff it was surprising since I never knew about Hogwarts tell I got my letter." "Plus I'm a half-blood. My mom's a witch, she was in Ravenaw but my dad's a muggle." "And what kind of people generally get sorted into Hufflepuff?"

Annie shrugged at his next question. "The sorting hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw because of my wit I think but my loyalty and dedication got me sorted into Hufflepuff. "I like Hufflepuff, the sorting hat is never wrong, I think you'd be find no matter where your put and we can still be friends and hang out even if we're not in the same house." She started to babble a bit. Annie then laid back, her feet in the sand while her dark hair lay spread out in messy waves on the grass.