* SHAKE IT OUT !

“The odd looks are the exact reason ‘why not’,” he smirked, shaking his head. “Don’t know if you’ve noticed, Thea, but I’m not exactly the guy begging to be the center of attention.” He knew quite a few people like that, though. He shrugged. “Alright, then I’ll have to remember caw caw. Shit, what was the code again?” he joked.

Leonard blinked a few times before shrugging. “Eh, sure, why not?” he said. “Just don’t expect me to put in any effort to sound like a real bird.” He had every intention of deadpanning the words ‘caw caw’ if they did get separated. Plus, he was determined for that not to happen. “Besides, if we pay attention, how would we be able to lose each other in a mirror room?”

He mirrored her smile easily, happy he was able to improve her mood at all. He nodded his head in the direction of the Mirror room, turning around so he could walk next to her. He made sure to keep a close eye on her, since he knew from experience how easy it was to lose a friend in this crowd. “What kind of code? Like a bird call or something?”

“I’ve been to a few, but not since I was like… ten, I want to say,” he admitted. “And none like this.”  When she mentioned the mirror room and her year not going well, he said “Well, I think I saw a mirror room on the other side of the carnival.” He jammed a finger over his shoulder, trying to help with the emotional situation in the best way he knew how; completely avoiding it. “You wanna go?”

“Not that your red hair wasn’t beautiful,” Evangeline clarified. She had inklings as to why she’d changed her hair, but it was no longer her place to ask or push. She wished it was, because she though, given the chance, she could help. Soothe her She knew plenty of rituals and even prayers for that. Damn. “Yeah. I–if I’m not in class or praying, I’m free. I’m going to guess that you remember when I do that…?”

“No, just dead batteries, easy fix,” he shrugged, playing along with the ongoing joke. He squinted a bit. “Why wouldn’t you come? It’s a carnival. They’re fun, or so I’ve been told.” Leonard usually didn’t attend anything Rory Smith threw, but given how Santiago and, potentially, Thea needed cheering up, he was glad he did.

Leonard had lost Santiago. Leonard wasn’t sure how he had lost a six foot tall guy but he had. He assumed that the Slytherin just needed to sulk alone for a bit, so he was simply watching people and admiring their costumes before he spotted a familiar face. He called her name and jogged a bit to catch up to her. “Oh, yeah, just put new batteries in it and everything, so it’s working great,” he smirked before saying “Nice costume, that’s cool looking make-up.”

Leonard hadn’t seen Anthea in a while, and felt like hanging out with someone besides the textbooks and other people’s assignments for a few minutes. He assumed, correctly, that she would be playing with a football somewhere outside, and smirked as he watched her for a moment before she snapped at him. “Whoa, no ‘hey Leo, how’ve you been?’”

   “Sorry, you know how into football I can get.” She chuckled and then set the ball down fully and turned to look back at him. “I didn’t recognize it was you at first. Some people tend to mock me when I’m out here practicing.” She apologized, a smile on her face, “Hey, Leo, how’ve you been?” She couldn’t help but laugh, “On a serious note, honestly, what’s up?”

         “S’not for everyone, I suppose. The only time my head feels clear is when I’m letting out everything I’m feeling in something.” She looked to Thea and smiled. “But writing is a great form of art.”

“Yeah, I heard.” Evangeline readjusted the strap of her bag, but it was more so she had something to do rather than needing to. Did see want to start working right then? When the pairings had been read off, Evangeline thought for sure that Thea would procrastinate or put it off completely in order to avoid working with her. The thought alone–that she intentionally avoided her–cut her gut in half. She used to seek her out, and now the script had flipped. “You changed your hair,” she said–again, more so she had something to do rather than out of necessity. “It’s nice.” She reached to touch it, but withdrew at the last second.

    He leaned down and kissed her head softly. He knew she was going through a hard time but he needed to let her go through all of this. Mason sighed softly, “I know and I know it’s hard but.. it’s better you face this now rather than let it drag on.”

Cricket looked at his shoes. They were completely clean. He liked that. He’d spent half an hour ten minutes ago cleaning them up. It was worth it. It made him smile–at least internally. He heard everything that Thea said, but as she finished, he noticed a loose thread at the hem of his sweater. He started to pick at it. It kept slipping through his fingers, and he knew she was expecting a response (everyone expected a response), but how could he answer like this? He tried five times before he got it. Finally, he could respond. “Okay,” he said. 

Patience was a virtue that Thea needed to learn how to have. One that she especially was working on. So she remained silent as she waited his response. She waited quietly and maybe that was one thing that was so different between the two of them. Thea dreaded silence. It made her anxious. Silence made her thoughts race and boy was there a marathon happening of how this could go. Finally, he responded and she blinked, “Okay?” She asked softly. That was more than she hoped for, “You don’t hate me?”

         “Well, whatever works,” Henriette chuckled and she nodded as she set her books down in front of her. “My Chemical Romance only comes out when I’m trying to paint up something.”

Evangeline shifted on her feet, looked at Thea, looked away, and then sucked in a sharp breath–all before responding. “Hi,” she said. Her throat was more sandpaper-esque than she thought it would be. She’d had all this time to be okay with her ex–knowing she’d be forced to see her around school–and she wasn’t. She wasn’t okay. She briefly wondered if there was a way to get around being partners. Probably not. “Did you need something?” She hoped her face was neutral.