The first ride PV Kayla Realma, CJ Luck closed

CJ took a deep breath and felt themselves sweat. Their lips trembled as they took in the bustling crowds of people. A shaky breath escaped their lips as they hauled their trunk towards the train. "Don't be dramatic, you'll be fine!" Their mother smiled at them with worried, glossy eyes, holding their little brother's hand in hers. "I'll be there too soon!" Their sister jumped erratically, waving their arms around and jumping around. Tears spilled from their father's eyes as he watched them. CJ gave back a melancholy smile along with a flying kiss. Nervousness pooled at the bottom of their stomach; Leaving home wasn't something they were familiar with. Talking to people was also another. Their knees ached as they pulled their trunk onto the train, huffing, and puffing. Walking down the tight corridors, they noticed a vast majority of compartments were full. They continued to trudge forward until they saw a chamber with a single person reading within it.

What were they to say? Do? They sighed, wiping sweat off the back of their neck. They had no choice. All the compartments were to be filled eventually, might as well get familiar with some people, being alone wasn't worth the risk. They thought for a moment before interacting. Notifying the person first was the best option, you never know how some may react to sudden arrival. They gently tapped the compartment door, trying their best not to shake.

Athena heard a gentle tapping coming from the door of the apartment. Her gaze shot towards it, startled. It was just another student. They looked a bit scared, and Athena understood. She felt the exact same way. Even though she had knew of the wizarding world her entire life, she had never met many wizards or witches, and especially not children. And now she was on her way to an entire school full of them. She felt a bit embarassed of her sudden reaction, and felt her cheeks becoming warm. The newcomer looked about the same age as her, maybe she was a first year too? In that case it was maybe a good idea to get to know her, it would be good to atleast know one person in the school.

She closed her book and put it down on the seat beside her, where she also had placed her trunk. She nodded to the newcomer and greeted her.
"Hello." her voice was way too quiet, so she tried again.
"Hello, you can come in if you want to." This time her voice could actually be heard, but barely. Why did she talk so quiet, when she tried not to? She waited to see what the newcomer would do.

"Um, thanks." CJ replied from the other side. Did they hear the person's words? No, but it wasn't polite to not thank someone for an act of kindness. They thrust the door open, laboriously dragging their trunk inside. They heaved it upwards onto the upper compartment, their arms shaking at the weight. The room shook for a few moments, before adjusting to its once still position. After that, they sank into a seat near the window. It was uncomfortable at first once they caught sight of the other person. CJ looked towards the window, showing the station; crowds of families were slowly dispersing, soon-to-be students climbed onto the train, and heartwarming goodbyes were given. Their reflection in the window stared at them. They glimpsed at the other person for a moment. Unconsciously, they picked at the nail polish on their fingernails and fidgeted with their pin. Footsteps were heard on the other side, signaling more students going into further compartments. It was just them for now; Who knows when others would arrive?

They took a small journal they fetched from home out of their pocket. Beforehand, they had written a few conversation starters, although Ann told them it was weird and ridiculous. They hoped she'd come soon. Flipping through their journal, they found a few sentences scribbled in their odd handwriting. Introductions first, or conversation? Both of those would lead to different responses, and 'endings' and decide if they were implied to be friends or foes. CJ would start with introductions.

'Introductions, the way you phrase them differs a reaction from person to person, can be predictable.'

Their eyes focused on the writing. Friend or foe? Friend or foe? They glanced up, abruptly shut their book, and with a calm expression, they introduced themselves.

"Hello. My name is CJ I use any pronouns, and uh, yeah."

They intertwined their fingers and crossed their legs as they spoke.

Athena, who had been awkwardly staring out the window looked at them, relived that she didn't have to be the one to start the conversation. Instead she could just follow it. She prepared herelf to not make the same mistake of a too quiet voice again.
"Hi. I'm Athena..." Right, pronouns, she wasn't used to having to tell people that. "Umm, I prefer she/her pronouns..." Shit, this time she had spoken to loudly instead. Why is it so hard controlling the volume of your voice when you're nervous? But other people didn't have that problem, it was maybe just her.

She focused on CJ once again, but they wasn't saying anything. Oh right, they started the conversation, so now it's maybe my turn to continue it.
"Umm, sooo... what house do you hope to be sorted into?" she really hoped it wasn't a too personal question, but she didn't think so. This time, she was atleast speaking in a normal volume for small talk.
Personally, she was hoping either Ravenclaw or Slytherin. She really didn't fit ito the other two, they seemed way to extroverted for her taste. She had a fair share of both ambition and intelligence, and she hoped to be able to use both of them during her time at Hogwarts.

Oh.

She was continuing the conversation, which was an expected reaction. Typically, one wouldn't start a conversation with pronouns, so CJ failed that one. But the pros were they'd have an ally or someone to talk with. Shoot- What did she say? Something about houses? CJ had spaced out for a moment and wasn't expecting a continuation. Just a basic introduction with no further continuance; they'd continue awkwardly minding their business. They had stopped picking their nail polish and picked up their journal, hugging it closely towards them. Their body language spoke for them. They were sheltered and awkward; hopefully, Athena could read that.

Oh, how they wished technology worked at Hogwarts; They could've listened to music while riding the train, but their Mother didn't allow them. She had given CJ a long, lengthy lecture about how they should make friends, learn about magic, and "not stay in your room or go to that forest all the time!" (but in Tagalog). Wait, what were they talking about again? Houses, yeah, Hogwarts houses. They opened their journal and briefly scribbled an image-er-likeness of a bird. Briefly, they thought for a moment. What was that house with a bird crest? Raven-

"Ravenclaw, I guess."

Kayla walked throughthe compartments, looking for somewhere to sit. She was actually in search for somewhere quiet-which was strange, for Kayla, knowing her, she'd love to find the loudest place possible. But, you know, some people have they're odd days. She finally walked into a compartment containing only two people, considering she couldn't find anywhere more quiet, two people weren't the biggest number, and maybe, heck, they could become potential friends.

"Hey, there, I'm Kayla!" She said, a bit surprised by her tone; which was usually booming and, well, loud, today she had a softer tone. A smaller voice.
She looked around the room, taking in the temperature. By 'temperature', she meant the mood; the tension. It didn't seem to bright, according to her awesome geography skills.
"So, uh, I was wondering, er-" why was she being so awkward? She couldn't seem to find her words. She couldn't feel them. "I was wondering," she started again, choosing a braver tone, "if I could sit here. Everywhere else there's people, and I really wanted to sit alone today but I can't seem to find a spot. Not like there's a problem with you sitting here I just wondered- uh, yeah."
And there it was, famous Kayla Realma did her trick: over speaking. Over speaking, babbling and overall, just being a chatterbox.
Great, she thought, now I've done it.

Athena nodded to CJ:s answer and was about to say something back, probably something awkward, but got interupted by a girl's voice.
"Hey, there, I'm Kayla! I was wondering, if I could sit here. Everywhere else there's people, and I really wanted to sit alone today but I can't seem to find a spot. Not like there's a problem with you sitting here I just wondered- uh, yeah." Athena looked at the girl. She seemed really nice, absolutely not bossy or annoying like many of the other girl that she had gone to muggle school with. She sounded like she'd fit in with athena and CJ, she sounded a little awkward too. But her voice was a lot braver and she seemed surer of herself.

"Of course!" she sprung up to her seat se she move her trunk to make space at the same time as the train whistled, and she didn't have time to sit down again until it started moving and flung her forward. She almost fell over CJ, but managed to keep herself up by grabbing a curtain. She felt herself blushing by her clumsiness and quickly regained balance again. She reached for her trunk at managed to put it on the luggage shelves above their heads, I have no idea what they are called purposefully avoiding to look at any of them. Then she sat down in her seat again and smiled what was supposed to be welcoming to the new girl. She actually hated her own smile, so she really hoped she didn't look like a freak while smiling to her. She just wanted the girl to like her.

CJ gave a small smile at Kayla.

Well, things were pretty uneventful and awkward at the moment. Maybe this new person would warm things up? They looked out the window as the train started moving and noticed a few parents waving at the children and teens on the train. Slowly, the station moved out of their vision, the figures turning into small dots in the distance. Looking at them was another reminder that CJ wouldn't return home until sometime next year. Butterflies soared in their stomach. A sigh escaped their lips as they glanced back at the others.

' Let's not think about that right now. What would be interesting to talk about? ' Thoughts scrambled in their head. Their eyes narrowed in thought as they looked back at their journal. Scribbles, scribbles, scribbles... Nothing deemed their interest. What was interesting anyways? How could you describe it? Interesting was something intriguing, something that seizes your attention. They flipped through a few pages in their notebook, their eyes searching through the pages. They skimmed through some of the pages, mumbling incoherently to themselves. A page stained with color caught their eye. Their face lit up with a small smile.

Those two pages were full of bright sketches of candy. It seemed to pop out from all the dark and saturated colors surrounding them. The colors seemed to blur together at the train's small movements. Bright yellows, pinks, greens, purples; The drawings were of candy wrappers, lollipops, gumdrops, jellybeans... They were probably hungry when drawing this, weren't they?

"Hey, um, do you guys like candy?"

Kayla felt quite glad that both Cj and Athena didn't think she was weird- or annoying.
"Thanks," she said sheepishly, "Be careful, that trunk looks heavy." She added a bit concerned, by her fall. "You ok?"
Kayla knew the quirks of clumsiness. Not that she was calling Athena clumsy, she just knew how if felt to be clumsy. She sat down on the seat that Athena had offered her and decided she better get to know evryones names, she didn't want to get halfway through the ride without knowing. She felt reassured when Athena gave her a smile, it was quirky, but, quite frankly, cute. Cj also smiled, their was quite which was warm and reasuring.
"I'm Kayla - I already said that, sorry - what's you guy's names?" She asked casually, noting the slight stutter in her voice. But when Cj asked, "Hey, um, do you guys like candy?" Kayla had forgotten all about wanting to know their names.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! I love sweets! But I'm not aloud to eat a lot, my Dad says it's unhealthy. What about you guys?" But by then, she felt more confident. Maybe they were starting to brighten up a bit, it was always nice to get a conversation going.

Kayla also noted that CJ had a journal with them, they were scribbling away with it and Kayla was interested. She didn't ask though, CJ kept it close to them, which probably meant that they didn't feeling sharing what was in there.