quiet is violent

This wasn’t the first time this had happened. Not by a long shot. Why couldn’t everyone just keep their voices down and stop using so many bright lights? He didn’t understand how no one else was getting sick from it all. “Everyone is loud. And they keep saying everything all at once. And that ride–” he pointed to the closest one “–it squeaks. Over and over and over again, but no one seems to care. How can they not care?” Though, no doubt, everyone else had an easier time blocking out all the white noise. 

Cricket was leaning against a wall, his hands pressed tight to his ears and his eyes shut hard. He was wearing a simple squid hat that was askew. He didn’t want to look up, but then he opened his eyes and recognized the shoes. “Jonah?”

Cricket was leaning against a wall, his hands pressed tight to his ears and his eyes shut hard. He was wearing a simple squid hat that was askew. He didn’t want to look up, but then he opened his eyes and recognized the shoes. “Jonah?”

           Rose adjusted the headband and gave her curls a shake to make sure they still had their volume. “You try squeezing into something this tight and remember everything you need,” she remarked. “What about you? What are you supposed to be?”

           The hufflepuff in her bright Tinkerbell costume stumbled back a step and she could feel her whole body freeze in response. She thought that she could handle this event with James by her side and for a second, she doubted herself. Then, things only got a little bit worse when she recognized who had spoke. She lifted her chin to look in his direction. “Don’t, it’s okay. I’m not really aware of my surroundings,” she replied and then gestured to her wings. “Wing span and all.”

          “Catwoman,” Rose scoffed and then patted top of her head realizing that her cat ear headband to go with her black suit weren’t there. She summoned the ears and placed it on. “See!”

  Jonah laughed, “I was supposed to be able to tell without the ears?” He couldn’t help but look at her a moment too long before he cleared his throat and looked away, “I can see it now. I don’t know how you even forgot your ears if they’re vital to your costume.”

    In the midst of trying to get away from a big crowd, Jonah turned without really looking where he was going and ended up bumping into someone. He quickly excused himself and then realized who it was. Shit. “Hey- sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings.” He hadn’t really spoken to her since they broke it off. He figured she probably didn’t want to speak to him anyways.

    “So what are you supposed to be exactly?” Jonah asked her with a smile on his face. He hadn’t really seen her around as often as he was used to but he figured she had a lot going on at the moment.

Cricket took the crown off and placed it on his brother’s head. He smiled on the inside, but was straight-faced on the outside. “There we go,” he murmured. Now he had another thing to focus on. He picked at a nearby flower–that was probably actually a weed–and began to weave again. “I don’t know,” he admitted once he’d strung two of them together. “Maybe not.” He strung on a third. “People are very loud. And unreasonable.”

Jonah closed one eye when he placed the crown on his head. It wasn’t the first time he’s made him one although the first flower crown he did make him, he had asked his mother to put a charm on it so it wouldn’t wilt away and it was kept at home. Jonah adjusted it slightly so it fit him better and then looked at his brother once more, “I see. Did something happen?”

Cricket’s hands toiled away. It was slow work, but he didn’t stop for even a moment. He liked having something to focus on. It calmed his mind. Especially in the midst of something that was simply too much. He twisted and tucked and worked his hands. Over and over–until he had enough linked flower to encircle his head. “I made a flower crown,” he said to the unseen person he’d sensed watching him. He dropped it onto his head. 

Evangeline’s back was pressed up straight against the wall. Her legs were crossed into a pretzel. She held a candle–sharp purple and nothing but a nub–in her hands. With her eyes closed and her mind focused, she didn’t notice that the candle hand burned a little too low until– “Shit!” She jerked her hands away, and the candle fell to the floor, where it burned out. 

  “Peachy.” They responded. Alyx smiled over at him, “It wasn’t too horrid. Just a little hectic.” They explained, Alyx then sighed and looked down at her cup of water. “Have you heard anything from your mum?” Curiosity had gotten the best of them at this point. They hadn’t heard from their father in what seemed like too long.

   This year had been exceptionally difficult with the divorce. Alyx wasn’t close to many people to begin with outside of Jonah and Cricket but lately, they found themselves even more closed off. They knew they were affected because their emotions were all over the place but they didn’t really worry. There was nothing her almost brothers didn’t already know. They took another drink of their water, not really caring for the weird look the person was giving her. “If you ain’t got nothing to hide, you ain’t got nothing to fear.” They shrugged. 

By the sounds of it, Alyx hadn’t been affected but he wasn’t sure. He took a seat next to them and then bumped them with his shoulder. Jonah wanted to make sure both his siblings were okay. He knew Alyx wasn’t exactly official but the way things were going with their parents, they might as well be. He smiled at them, “Well spoken. You doing okay then?”

[ affected ]

         Slamming her cauldron down, Victoire huffed softly. It had only been an hour but she was already tired of the lack of filter. She pulled out her potions notebook and flipped to the page she need. “Unless you are here to help me find ingredients, please don’t talk to me,” the head girl said.

jeremy’s heart was racing so much that he was sure it was going to give out. he’d been in potions class, already worrying about various things, when he managed to put in the wrong ingredients – causing his concoction to explode. it was the last thing to push him over the edge, his feet carrying his quickly out of the class without excusing himself. his throat was tight and his breathing was strained. he was barely paying attention to his surroundings when he bumped into someone. “i’m sorry,” he said quickly, clearly distressed. “i think i’m having a heart attack or something. can you please help me to the hospital wing? i don;t even– i don’t even know what’s going on.”

“Of course, you’re always making excuses for your actions and acting like you’re untouchable. You clearly make mistakes and you can’t bully your way out of the consequences, Jonah. If you didn’t act like a child then I wouldn’t have to yell at you to get my point through your thick skull.”