It's Been a VERY Long Day

[Allegra Thornton]

... and it was only lunchtime.

She had skipped the mid-day meal, deciding that holing up in the girls dorm would be a better option. He wouldn't find her even if he wanted to and that suited Allegra just fine.

Why did she even care? So what if his ex-girlfriend showed up after all of this time. It wasn't like Allegra had anything to say about it. She had stopped beliving the silly rumors, right?

It still hurt. And the fact that it hurt bothered her. She flopped on her bed with a sigh, refusing to cry. That would be just plain pathetic.

[arianna]

She needed her potions book. Arianna didn't want to lug the stupid thing everywhere she went, so she left it in her dorms until lunchtime, when she could run up and drop her her other books off. Usually their was no one here, so she had no reason to stay too long. Today, though, Arianna was half-way back to the door before she realized there was someone else in the room. Turning around, she noticed Allegra looking rather down.

"'Legra?" the girl walked slowly over to the Head Girl's bed, wondering if she might be sick. "You okay?"

[Allegra Thornton]

Allegra was going to let Ari just run in and out but when she spoke, Allegra had to answer. She nodded slowly at first but then stopped and shook her head. With another sigh she ended up shrugging. "I don't know... I don't know anything anymore."

[arianna]

Arianna frowned. There must be something in the air lately. First Drew, now Allegra. Everyone seemed to need hugs lately. And Arianna seemed to be the only one in the position to give them.

"You want to talk about it?" she set her book down and moved onto the bed next to Allegra. She still had a while before she had to get to class, but wouldn't mind skipping if she had to.

[Allegra Thornton]

"I don't know if there's anything to talk about," Allegra answered with a frustrated sigh. Apparently everyone in the school knew how she felt about Kellen... thus the rumors. Yet she had never confided it to anyone. Maybe if she had, she wouldn't feel like it was all a mess.

"Kellen's ex-girlfriend came back to Hogwarts," Allegra told Ari, trying to smile about it but failing miserably.

[arianna]

"Oh," was all Arianna could say. She wasn't quite sure what it had to do with Allegra, though. Yeah, she'd heard a few rumours, but hadn't been so willing to believe as some people had. Allegra would have told her....wouldn't she? "But she's been gone, like...forever, hasn't she?"

[Allegra Thornton]

"Two years..." Allegra answered with a sigh. She traced the pattern on her comforter with one finger as she tried to sort out her thoughts. "I was dating Chris that year. You remember Chris?"

[arianna]

"Yeah. Of course," Arianna replied with a small nod. She was watching Allegra carefully and slowly dawned on her that maybe there was a little truth to those rumours. Why else would she be so upset that Kellen's ex-girlfriend from several years ago was back? "Hufflepuff, right?"

[Allegra Thornton]

"I was dating Dante. Then Kellen was dating Penelope. Then I was dating Chris. And now..." Allegra gave a deep and heavy sigh. "... Now, Penelope's back. I'm just not sure... what it all means."

[arianna]

"It might not be anything," Arianna commented with an unsure shrug. She wondered for a moment how Kellen was taking it. Arianna had been in that position where and ex suddenly showed up at the door. Yeah, that was a mess. But that wasn't the issue at the moment.

[Allegra Thornton]

"There's really not much I have to say about it one way or another, is there?" Allegra answered with a small smirk. "I mean, he's free to do whatever he wants, isn't he? He gets back together with Penelope and I have to be happy about it, right?"

[arianna]

"Well...there's lots of stuff you could do about it," Arianna commented, offering a small smile. "But if you ever do any of them, I'm going to have to have you checked to make sure someone hasn't imperio'ed you."

Ah, yes, Arianna could see it now. Allegra did like Kellen. She felt a little bummed that she was the last to figure it out. Even more bummed that there had been no girl talk or late night confessions. Of course, she'd spent most of the year feeling as though her only friend was thousands of miles away, so it wasn't much of a surprise.

[Allegra Thornton]

"No, seriously, what can I say? She's a nice girl. He's a ncie guy. They're both my friends. There's no problem. I don't even know why it's bothering me so much!" she answered.

[arianna]

"Because you like him," Arianna replied knowingly. She'd been in that situation a few times and knew how awful it was to have to wait and see the outcome. "I don't know what you can do about it, though. Saying something now would be like....like....what's the word? Like you're trying to pull a Cleo and steal him away."

[Allegra Thornton]

"We're just friends," Allegra answered, shaking her head. It was those rumours again and she wasn't quite sure how they had started to begin with. And yes, the worst thing was she had bought into them. "I'm supposed to be happy for my friends, right?"