Market Value Closed PV A. Knight

amaris was a shameless girl.

that was probably incorrect. it was not that the young gryffindor did not feel shame; she did not show it- or tried to, at least. yet shame was a feeling that can too be easily felt. and it was hurtful. sometimes it was difficult to hide shame. but amaris had a last resort- anger. shame would soon shift to mad anger. she had not thought she would not feel shame at hogwarts. from professors, yes; from older, more accomplished students; perhaps, but from a first year like her- from a peer?- no. how could a peer have so much power and authority over her?

it seemed like a normal enough may monday. in fact, not only was it normal, it was celebratory, because of may day of course. it was- at least before amaris met maverick castle: first year, gryffindor, headliner writer. that was already a wonderful reputation for a first year. add on a quidditch player and it would be amaris' dream. indeed, she had signed up for both quidditch and headliner writer. while she was quickly waitlisted for quidditch, amaris was still unsure whether she got the job for headliner writer. she could only wait and hope.

she looked up to maverick in a sense. one would think it odd. she had never met maverick. the most she had ever seen was his picture in the headliner. he was good-looking enough, though amaris certainly had no romantic intent. dark hair, green eyes, that was all she could make out from the photo in the headliner. moreover, maverick was a peer and seeing a peer be so talented was another reason for amaris to admire him. still, being a peer meant he could be fairly easier to approach. this was her chance to get published. finally, the whole school would know her name. how wonderful.

yet from the corner of her eye, she saw someone, as she was walking back to her dormitory after class for a may day celebration. was it? could she dare hope? was it indeed maverick castle himself? yes, she was correct. walking down the corridor, perhaps to the dormitory too, was maverick castle in all his pride- perhaps even hubris or arrogance as amaris would soon learn. he seemed like a pleasant enough person. but don't ever 'judge a book by its cover'.

amaris squeezed out of the crowd, trying to face the boy directly. 'excuse me,' she said, not realising how meager it came out, impossible to hear with the buzzing students around her. 'excuse me,' she repeated, louder this time. she needed to make a good impression. 'might you be maverick castle?' she asked hopefully. she wanted the boy to stop, smile at being recognised, agree that he was indeed maverick castle, talk pleasantly with amaris, and ultimately agree to write an article about the 'smartest first year gryffindor.'

how wrong she was. nothing ever went her way these days. it was all fantasies.

@maverick castle

he was a charming boy, despite his young age. amaris did not feel romantically inclined towards him as bad she doubted he felt so towards her. in his eyes, amaris might as well as seemed inferior to him. for merlin’s sake, this boy only worked in the headliner; what was so impressive about that?

a light grimace was seen on amaris’ face as she realised her tone. she was certainly fangirl-ing. and all she could do was thank solomon lear that maverick wasn’t a part-veela; or what else might she have felt?

the boy smiled at her, yet it did not feel exactly genuine to amaris. it was a smile she had often seen on faces of the press. they were there only to seem polite, which was the key to getting information out of someone. despite her desire to join the headliner, amaris had never trusted reporters. she hoped that she would be different than maverick. she hoped that she wouldn’t, as they say, ‘fake it to make it’.

maverick confirmed what the young gryffindor had already known. he was, indeed, mr. castle.

amaris just stood there as maverick walked towards her. how had he perfected the journalist’s walk so damn quickly? his walk was a perfect, perfect combination of casualness and authority.

yet her body had told her to run. something was off, something was wrong. run. this situation would not be a good one. maverick had certainly treated her like she was inferior, instead of as a peer. if he did not at least carry some interest, if not esteem to her, she would never pick up his quill and write an article about her. it was all futile, and the aspiring headliner would be humiliated in front of everyone in the corridors.

yet she forced herself to stop, to not turn on her heel and bolt back to her dormitory. amaris breathed slowly, in and out and in and out, iluntil her nerves were calmed and she no longer felt the desperate need to run and never look back and never speak to maverick castle again.

god damn it. he was just a peer.

right. amaris put her inner conflicts on halt and looked at maverick. he had asked her what he could help her with. his tone was wrong, very wrong. this sort of tone won’t be getting amaris anywhere. amaris breathed again, in and out and in and out. it was not as drastic as last time and hopefully maverick didn’t notice it. but of course he would notice it. he was a journalist and they noticed everything.

‘i am incredibly sorry if i am being a bother,’ amaris started. she smoothed out her words until they showed almost no emotion. ‘but may i dare ask for you to write an article about me?’

@maverick castle