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Grabbing a small, leather-bound sketchbook from her trunk, Jess straightened up, turning around to look at the tent. She could stay in here to draw, of course, but Jess had always been one to enjoy nature. Well... except for the bugs. She padded out of the tent and plopped down onto the ground, running her fingers through the blades or grass that surrounded her. Drawing would bring a welcome respite from the craziness of the past few days, a much needed breath of calm in an otherwise unending stream of action and activities. She opened the sketchbook, spreading it flat over her lap, and stared at the page blankly.

Now - what to draw? Jess sat, tapping her pencil lightly against the page as she deliberated. She could stick with what was familiar and draw an eye, but then again, Jess preferred to have a reference for those types of detailed drawings and besides, her grandmother always said she drew eyes much too often, anyways. Although - she didn't really need a picture to use as a basis for her drawing, Jess figured. She could just... look around, and use what was around her as a reference. It wasn't typically her style, but then again, Jess didn't exactly have lots of other options.

Holding up her hand and studying its shape, the girl began to sketch a few basic shapes on her page. The pentagons, circles, and rectangles soon came together to form the distinctive shape of a hand connected to a wrist, and Jess moved on to sketch the light outline of what would be her drawing. She erased the shapes and shaded next, laying down an initial, light base of gray over her sketch. She then darkened the color, pressing down harder on the pencil in the places where the shadows deepened on her hand. She preferred colored pencils to their plain graphite equivalent, but those had been forgotten in the hassle that was packing, and nothing could be done about it now.

It felt good to be drawing again, to be tracing her pencil across the page and laying down ink until what she saw in her mind's eye was clearly laid out on the page. She hadn't had much time to lay pencil to page as of late, what with finding out she was a witch and packing for camp and all. Jess breathed in, allowing herself to be lost in the sensation of the pencil tip moving across the rough surface of the sketchbook page, tracing out designs and bringing the drawing to life. The slight scratching sound of the pencil blended with the chirping of the birds and the quiet murmur of students talking in the distance, and all of it faded away as Jess tilted her head back, feeling the sun warming her face as she closed her eyes, chest rising and falling with each deep, calming breath.

Miranda had decided to escape the ruckus of the general campsite in favor of the more peaceful atmosphere afforded to her by sticking to the trees around the edge, which was how she found herself, book in hand, making her way past the tents toward the edge.

She passed few people, since most were off doing various activities around the site, like the game of Capture the Flag or Chess Combat. Well, that was fine by her. Sure, Miranda could be quite outgoing and talkative when she wanted to, but it was still nice to have some time to relax and revel in the quiet. One couldn't exactly do that in the middle of a competitive game, now could they?

A little ways before she was due to leave the mess of tents, Miranda found herself almost stumbling into a girl that was sitting on the grass and drawing something. "Sorry!" she yelped quickly, jumping back before she could do any damage. "I didn't see you there!"

Miranda had always found it hard to pay any special attention to her surroundings, since her mind was always busy thinking and wondering about various different things at the same time. If you asked her, she'd say it seemed to be a common Ravenclaw trait. At least, it was to Miranda, since the majority of her classmates seemed to share her absent-mindedness during most occasions. She quickly stopped that train of thought before it distracted her again.

Jess breathed in deeply, enjoying the peace and calm all around her. Yes- the rustling of the trees, the feel of the slight breeze against her face, the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps- wait, what?

Jess squawked as someone nearly walked into her, forcing her out of her momentary calm. Her face then rapidly reddened as she whipped a hand to cover her mouth, mortified by the sound she had just made. "Oh, my god..." she whispered to herself.

"Sorry!" Jess heard the girl yell out. "I didn't see you there!"

Jess simply stared at her for a moment, too shocked to say much. "That's um, that's fine..." she managed to get out eventually. Clearing her throat, she swiped a hand through her hair. "I should be the one apologizing anyways... I should have known not to sit down somewhere where other people were walking, anyways." She managed a weak smile, and a small chuckle escaped her lips. "And sorry for the sound that I just made... I don't even know what that was. I promise I don't always sound as if I'm choking like that all the time..."

Realizing that her sketchbook was still laying open on her lap, Jess looked down at it critically. Suddenly very aware of how disproportionate and large the thumb seemed in comparison to the pinky finger, Jess glanced back up at the girl, uncomfortable. She hated this- hated how she always loved her drawings right up until she found something wrong with them and then couldn't stand to look at them for too long.

"No, it's totally okay," Miranda replied with a half-smile. "We all make mistakes. Me most of all." She then made a show of looking surprised. "And what do you mean by a noise...I didn't really hear anything. I can get, um, really wrapped up in my own head sometimes." In truth, she had heard some kind of squawk, but chose to ignore it. Anyone who had met Miranda knew that she had her fair share of strange habits and quirks, so she had no reason to think badly of others whenever they did something odd unconsciously.

Miranda spent a moment looking at the girl, trying to see if she'd met her before. But no, even if she'd seen her in passing, they'd never spoken. She would have remembered if they had. Her memory wasn't that bad...right? Shaking away the negative thoughts, Miranda brought her original smile back. No need to seem down-hearted. Especially when meeting someone new.

She tilted her head downwards to study the girl's drawing of a hand. It wasn't bad - better than any Miranda could make on her own. Although she found herself wondering why the girl had drawn that, of all things. When Miranda practiced, she preferred to draw scenes from nature or magical beasts.

Jess nodded in relief as the girl said that it was okay for her to be sitting where she was, and smiled in silent laughter at the girl's next statement. She grinned at the girl's assurance that she hadn't heard the noise Jess had made, though, as Jess was pretty sure she had exclaimed loudly enough for the entire camp to to have heard her, she wasn't entirely sure she believed the girl. She was probably just lying to make Jess feel better, she figured, but she could always hope what the girl had said was the truth.

"Yeah, I tend to zone out sometimes too..." Jess told the girl. "I guess it comes along with being curious or really just having an imagination." The latter was particularly true in Jess's case, as most of her daydreams involved thinking up plots for imaginary characters and picturing stories that had never existed. Jess almost always had a song stuck in her head, too, which was something she sometimes got annoyed about but usually didn't mind all too much.

Jess noticed that the girl was looking at her, and she guessed that she was trying to discern if she had seen Jess before. That was, after all, what Jess was doing too. Though as much as she stared at the girl, Jess couldn't remember having seen her around camp before. Maybe she had caught a glimpse and just not paid the girl too much attention before, but it didn't matter. This was the first time they were actually talking, so Jess figured they might as well get to know each other now while they had the chance.

"I'm Jess, by the way," she said with what she hoped was a friendly smile. "Alternatively known as the girl who sits where she's not supposed to when she tries to draw. What's your name?"

"Well then, here's to having an imagination," Miranda replied with a wry grin, lifting an imaginary cup before letting her arm drop. Her thoughts were already spinning off, trying to see if the girl's words held any truth. Luckily, she managed to wrestle them back and store the idea in the back of her mind, for later inspection.

"I'm Miranda," she replied when the other girl introduced herself, smiling at Jess's joke. "I don't think I have any alternate names, but you can come up with one if you'd like. I don't think it'll be too hard, if you do." That was true. Anyone who spent a minute watching her could probably discern at least a dozen quirks or odd habits she had.

Miranda glanced around the empty patch of grass, then turned back to Jess. "So do you have anything planned for today? I mean, I heard there's a whole load of things to do all the time 'round here, but I'm not really sure where or when it all is. Most of it sounds pretty great..." She smiled a bit wider, her eyes dancing with hidden amusement. Well, she always seemed to be smiling or grinning these days, mostly because of the elation she felt about not having to spend her whole summer under the baleful glare of her parents. It was refreshing even if she did miss her younger brother, who wasn't so lucky.

"Maybe we can meet up at one of them later on, girl-who-sits-where-she's-not-supposed-to-when-she-tries-to-draw.?" she suggested with a noncommittal shrug.

Lifting her imaginary cup as well, Jess grinned as she acted in accordance with the girl's mock toast. Her smile only got wider as the girl laughed at her joke and introduced herself, promising that Jess could give her an alternate name later on if she so wished. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind," she told Miranda, her voice intentionally serious despite the laughing gleam in her eyes. "I will need a confirmation on paper that I'm actually allowed to come up with the name, though..."

Jess trailed off, wondering if she was taking it too far. Sure, the joke made sense to her, but she had wanted to be a lawyer for several years now and was accustomed to making imaginary official transcripts. She had no idea if Miranda knew what she was talking about at all, though, or if she even knew what a lawyer was. Wait, Jess thought to herself in alarm as her eyes widened slightly. Do wizard-borns know what lawyers are?

Miranda's question snapped Jess out of her rather terrifying revelation, and she thought back to the letter she had received from Hogwarts telling her about the summer camp. So far, Jess had only gone to one of the activities listed in the letter, the Welcome Barbecue. She had kind of just flitted around the edges of the event, not really talking to anyone, though, so that particular experience hadn't exactly been a good or bad one. There had also been a Capture the Base activity, but Jess had realized it was going on too late and ended up not joining. "Um, yeah," she said, turning her attention back to Miranda. "I think the Stargazing activity is later today, so going to that might be fun."

As the other girl continued talking, Jess's face split into a wide, delighted grin. Miranda actually wanted to meet up with her later? And she had paid enough attention to Jess's joke to play into it when addressing her? This was great! "Yeah, sure, of course!" Jess said, unable to contain her excitement. "I mean, we can meet up at the stargazing thing later if you want..."

"Well then," Miranda replied, still grinning. It was nice to meet someone who appreciated a good joke. And who could come up with them on the spot, like Jess could. "We'll have to figure out how to get some of those later. Or you can keep it unofficial, of course. I don't mind."

She grinned at the younger girl, her eyes brightening when Jess mentioned the Stargazing event. Miranda had heard about that and found the idea intriguing, although she'd yet to find out more about it. Hopefully it'd be a nice way to spend her time, especially if Jess agreed to go. Another beat, and then...yes! She had agreed to go. That meant it would be much more enjoyable than if she'd gone alone. Even if Miranda appreciated silence at some times, it was still nice to have someone to talk to. And Jess seemed nice. She was creative, artistic, and funny. Those were good traits to have in a - dare she think it - friend. Maybe. Maybe not. Only time would tell.

"Great!" Miranda exclaimed, her smile widening. Maybe her accidental tripping-over-another-student wouldn't turn out too bad. Even if it was a strange way to meet someone. "I really appreciate it. Sometimes those events can get a bit stifling, what with everyone already in their own little groups or simply alone."