at least i'm trying

"Yeah, keep my eye on the ball, definitely," Maggie repeated, grabbing the ball, "You say that likes it's easy. I've never been good at sports," She threw the ball back at Willow. "I'm fine, just wasn't paying attention."

"It's all meant to be in good fun," she told her sister, catching the ball and throwing it back with much less force than before. "If you'd rather we do something else, just say so, yeah? I don't want you to be miserable, Mags."

🌊 enjoy a swim/water sports activity - maggie & willow ( @willcwpicquery )

"C'mon now, Mags! You gotta keep your eyes on the ball at all time!" Willow insisted passionately, unable to help her chuckles after having watched ball's trajectory, bouncing off of her sister and into the water again. "You're not actually hurt though, right?"

"I do love clothes and I seem to update them on a regular basis too." She admitted, knowing she'd already been eyeing up some new jumpers. "Perhaps we should make it an excuse to go shopping?"

"An excuse to go shopping? You don't need to tell me twice," a wide grin forming on her lips at the idea. "When have you got some time free? We'll go all early 2000s makeover montage vibes and raid all the stores to make a day of it– it'll be fun."

"I do. How else am I gonna be the best." If he set the bar high, it meant he had no choice but to aim high. He didn't settle for mediocrity. "You're almost as much of an attention whore as I am. That's probably another area I can't be beaten on though." Roman admitted easily, a snort of amusement passing is lips. "But meet in around an hour? Sounds good to me. I can't wait to see how you look."

"Of course I am. It might be why we got along so naturally from the start," she laughed when Roman pointed out that she was no better than him when it came to soaking up the attention. "And I you. We are both frustratingly good at looking hot with little to no effort so... once we put that effort in, everyone is done for," Willow then insisted with a proud grin. "See you in an hour, Ro."

"You see, the thing is, I know you almost as well as you know yourself. Ain't ever gonna be anyone who can outdo me when it comes to you, Willow. Not without some serious effort on their part." He told her, grinning when she agreed with him that it was a proven fact. "It's good to know you have faith in me too though."

"You set quite the bar for yourself," she observed with a light smirk. "It's really no competition but at the same time I enjoy it all too much to tell you to quit putting so much time and thought into those things. I love the attention after all," Willow could admit. "I always have faith in you. Even in those rare times you don't have faith in yourself," she remarked. "Alright so should we meet up in like an hour or something? I'm pretty skilled at pulling myself together with a quick turnaround time if needs be."

"Well you deserved good surprise parties and it wasn't as though anyone knew how to pull them together with quite as much flair as I did. I can't imagine you'd rather your parents do it for you and as much as I rate your sisters... I'm still better at this. Proven fact." Roman spoke with confidence.

"Definitely. I mean they'd blow the cash to look good but let's be real the party would still have to be on their terms," Willow shrugged, smiling at the memories from all the past parties he'd thrown that she'd attended. Whether they were for her or not, she'd always had an amazing time if Roman had a hand in the planning. "Proven fact," she confirmed with a grin.

"I like to keep my standards high. The highest in fact." Roman informed his best friend, knowing how much Willow valued and thought of him. That was never something he had to concern himself with. Even when they'd been parted, they kept in regular contact. "You say that as if you could though. I happen to have a skill for keeping things under wraps when I need to."

"I know you do," he always made a point to acknowledge that but it was also clear he had particular tastes. While she liked nice things and good people, she certainly feel like she'd lucked out most of the time. "This I know too. I'll never forget some of the surprise parties you've thrown for me in the past. Nobody knows how to keep a secret like you do."

"Just most men? Clearly I have some work to do then. I don't like not being your favourite." Roman stated, smiling down at her, though he was very glad that Willow had good men in her life. He'd have been concerned if she couldn't name any more. Roman leaned in to press an affectionate peck to Willow's lips before tossing an arm around her shoulder. "Well now, that'd be telling wouldn't it? You just get yourself all dressed up and leave the rest to me, doll."

"It's cute when you get jealous," Willow teased in reply. While she'd always been the type of girl who tended to have more guy friends in her close circles, the only two that mattered the most to her were Joe and Roman. There wasn't any competition for either of them in her eyes either, valuing them in different ways but holding them both in very high regard. "Alright, alright. I won't go spoiling your surprise," she laughed after the peck and his arm draping across her shoulders. She knew that he knew she enjoyed surprises but she always tried her luck at getting a hint anyways. "I can definitely do that."

"What exactly is my track record, hm?" Roman narrowed his eyes in an accusatory manner, hovering closer to the small girl. "Because when it comes to you I've been nothing but the perfect gent." The male pointed out, though he didn't actually seem bothered by Willows words in the slightest. "But not flip on a dime, no. I just know my worth and that anyone should be glad to spend time with me."

"You know exactly what you're like, hot shot," she poked him playfully in the chest as he came closer, shaking her head at him with a soft laugh. "You have, you have. I can never deny you that. You treat me better than most men," Willow had no qualms in admitting. She never had to worry about how Roman would behave in regards to her and that quite frankly spoiled her when it came to interactions with others. "As you should, darlin'," she drawled at him with a grin, reaching up to gently squeeze his chin and give it a shake. "So where are we going then?"

"Damn Wills... Here I was being all nice and you already try and poke all the air outta me." Roman, held a hand to his heart at the accusations. "No I didn't invite anyone else out for Valentines day. You are my first choice." He corrected with a fond roll of his eyes. "Though now I am not feeling so generous..."

"You can't blame me for expecting you of all people to have some ulterior motives, especially given your track record," Willow pointed out with a snort. "That is sweet however, Ro," she then smiled softly. "So you'll flip on all of this on a dime like that? Ouch. So much for our Valentine's Day plans I suppose."

"Well hopefully you'll figure out what makes you happy eventually. Beyond that, it doesn't really matter too much." Lysander said with a shrug of his shoulders. He wouldn't have advised someone to do as he had done and chosen something just to get himself away from family and expectations. Though, he'd done it to prove a point too so it was kind of counterproductive.

"I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually," Willow shrugged, although she knew it was something she'd been battling for some time now. She just hoped at this rate that she'd wake up with some sort of epiphany or something. "At least I know the people in my life make me happy. That I can depend on."

"No, I haven't. Though I don't think you're the first to say that to me." Bes admitted with a little bit of a chuckle at her words. "But thank you for the compliments. I happen to think it comes from reading too much. My genres are varied so there have been a few self help books in there in the past too." He admitted, grinning. "You'll have it eventually I'm sure, and it'll be spectacular." He assured her, half imagining it much like the big bang when it did arrive. It would turn her world upside down he felt given the type of girl she was.

"Reading too much? I'm sure many bibliophiles would argue with you that there is no such thing. If anything, I think most people do not read enough," Willow responded with a light shrug of her shoulders. "Let's hope so. I like to do things on a spectacular level anyways so it'd be nice if that turns that way too. Gotta make it worth the wait, right?"

Everleigh would have loved to say that there was some real competition but honestly, they wiped the floor with the opposing team, and it wasn't just a slightly smug expression on her face by the end of it. "I know who to come to in the future if I have any competitions I need to win."

"All in a day's work," she gave a proud grin in response, the both of them rightfully smug after their impressive win. "I can say the same. That's what happens when two girl bosses come together after all."

"I suppose, but I more appreciate the storytelling than the actual ghosts themselves. And yes, I am from Beauxbatons. They have their own ghosts of course who are more than happy to tell you all their stories. In fact quite a few are very egocentric." Raphael gave to the woman in answer.

"I suppose that makes sense," she nodded, figuring all castles had their history and the ghosts to pair with it. Willow knew the most about Ilvermorny, but with her youngest sister having attended Hogwarts she'd done her best to educate herself. "Egocentric? Well forgive me for the stereotype but that does strike me as rather French," Willow admitted with a snort.