how am i gonna be an optimist about this? {FELICITY}

[Soraya Selwyn]

Today had already been a long day, but it wasn't even one o'clock yet. Soraya had been up early - much earlier than she liked to be when she was on holidays from school. But in a few weeks, she would be attending her debutante ball and she wanted to have everything ready for that day. Her dress had been hanging in her room since the Easter holidays and thankfully still fit her just perfectly. Which meant that she hadn't gained or lost any weight, much to her surprise. While the dress was set, everything else needed to be done. Soraya wanted brand new elbow-length, white gloves, earrings, other jewelry and shoes. So she'd woken up early to come to Diagon Alley to get her supplies.

Being a perfectionist, it had taken Soraya longer than she had hoped to get everything done. But it was completed and she now found herself famished. Usually she didn't eat out alone. It was an awkward feeling, to eat alone in public. Her heart went out to the people she saw eating alone out in public. But who knew what had been prepared at the manor for lunch? And she was beginning to feel a little light-headed from lack from food, so even if she tried appirition, she might splinch herself. Deciding to be the adult she was, Soraya stopped in front of a curious looking cafe. The Tamarisk Tree. She knew of it, of course, but had never been inside. Her family rarely ate in Diagon Alley.

Glancing around the alley, Soraya made sure no one she knew (well) was around and decided to give the cafe a try. Maybe they would have something truly delicious. She stepped into the cafe and was surprised by the inside. Soraya looked around, slightly baffled and fascinated by what she saw. The cafe was so loud! Not physically, but decoratively. She had never been in a cafe like this before. Part of her wanted to turn around and go elsewhere, but that was rude. So Soraya held her head high and made her way to a table that could seat four, her bags looped over her forearms. She placed her bags on half of the table, refusing to put them on the floor or on the chairs opposite of her where someone might steal them. She looked around the cafe again, taking everything in and wondering if there were waiters or if she had to go somewhere to order.

---

((OOC: is this alright?))

[Felicity Jordan]

(ooc: it is perfect, no worries!)

Sissy was starting to get worried. She'd spent all morning playing with Cunning, and now the lizard was nowhere to be seen. She'd been trying to figure out what to feed him, and Lorcan, her usual partner-in-crime for all things lizard, wasn't working that day. She'd eventually settled on a trial and error process that...hadn't really succeeded, since apparently the lizard was not a big fan of any kind of the food cooked in the cafe. Even biscuits couldn't tempt the stupid thing, so Sissy had run out to grab a bunch of stuff from the street outside, only to return and find her lizard missing.

After getting a proper tongue lashing from her mother about leaving Cunning unattended, and then trailing dirt and and leaves into the cafe, Sissy spent twenty minutes sweeping up the leaves she'd brought in for Cunning, and then set out to recover her pet or die trying.

Or at least die hungry. It had been two hours, she hadn't seen a hint of the lizard, and now it was one and she hasn't eaten anything for lunch. What if she actually starved while trying to find her devious lizard? Everyone would wonder where she'd gone and find her dried out corpse collapsed in the staircase. That'd show her mum, anyway.

Then again, Sissy reflected, stopping to eat something might be just the thing she needed to go through the clues again and find Cunning. Maybe Cunning would come back inside on his now by the time she was done eating, and then she wouldn't have to look for him at all! With this cheerful thought in mind, Sissy headed for an empty table she saw nearby, until suddenly, a customer with an armload of shopping bags dropped into the chair before her.

Sissy was tempted to glare at the older girl and just sit at the table anyway, but after taking a good long look at her pristine, fashionable outfit - completely opposite of Sissy's own secondhand, somewhat muddy one - she felt a little uncomfortable with just barging into a seat.

"'Scuse me," she said politely, "Do you mind if I sit here?"

[Soraya Selwyn]

Soraya was so lost in her mind, still trying to figure out how she felt about the cafe she had just walked into, that she was startled when someone spoke to her. She jumped a little and her eyes went wide as she turned to look at the... small person before her. She had expected to see a waiter, perhaps all prepared with water and a lemon slice, that the young girl she saw was also a bit of a surprise. Soraya stared at the young girl, her mouth slightly agape. She quickly closed her mouth, as it was rude and improper to leave one's mouth hanging open.

Do you mind if I sit here? The question echoed in Soraya's head as she continued to stare at the girl. Who was she? Why couldn't she sit elsewhere? Of course she minded! They didn't know one another; why in the world would they share a table? But perhaps that was a regular occurrence here at this cafe. And as Soraya couldn't figure out a polite way to tell this girl 'no' (she reminded her a bit of Serena), she looked down at her lap and smoothed out in the invisible wrinkles.

"I reckon that'll be alright," Soraya found herself saying, lifting her head up to look at the girl again. She offered a small smile, hoping that she didn't seem too displeased. Then again, if she did, the girl might move onto someone else. Soraya took a moment to survey the girl's clothes, quickly noticing that they were obviously not brand new or even slightly worn. They were most likely hand-me-downs. Soraya didn't want to judge the young girl, as some families weren't privileged like the hers was. Then it occurred to the older girl that perhaps this young girl was going to ask if she'd buy her lunch. Perhaps she should just leave.... No, that was rude.

Soraya relaxed a bit into the back of the chair. "What's your name?" she inquired. She might as well know the name of the strange she was about to have lunch with.

[Felicity Jordan]

Sissy noticed the older girl's surprise - hard not to, considering her jaw had literally dropped open - and felt a little less intimidated. It was hard to be nervous after you'd just given that much of a shock to somebody. Perhaps she'd never been in a cafe before? Or never seen a thirteen-going-on-fourteen year old?

No, that didn't make any sense, Sissy thought, looking more closely at her. She might have been dressed a lot differently than most people Sissy knew, but she didn't look more than a few years older than Sissy was. She must have gone to Hogwarts. Or maybe she hadn't. She took another look at the girl, and wondered if she was one of those really, really rich homeschooled witches who ended up doing really fancy things like sculpting or became famous for singing. Sissy thought about it for a few more seconds, and couldn't decide.

"Do you go to Hogwarts?" She blurted out, and then plopped down into the seat after muttering a "Thank you," to the other girl. "I mean, I go, but I haven't seen you, so I'm just asking," she added cheerfully. "It's not that big of a school but there's still loads of people I haven't met, 'specially the older ones - they're always leaving before you know anything about them so that's hard. But, I know a lot of people that just graduated, since most of them were friends with my sister. My sister's Ricky Jordan, by the way, did you know her?" Sissy continued, hardly giving the other girl a chance to talk.

"I'm Sissy, by the way," Sissy added, remembering that the other girl had asked her a question, too, "Felicity, I mean," she corrected hurriedly, not wanting the elegant older girl to call her by her stupid baby nickname. "Felicity Jordan. Who're you?"

[Soraya Selwyn]

The next question that popped out of the young girl's mouth was about Hogwarts. At this, Soraya narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to place the girl. If they both went to Hogwarts, they had to have seen each other at some point, right? Maybe not. Soraya didn't pay much attention to younger students unless they were Serena's age - she didn't want her younger sister making friends with the wrong people. She wondered how old this... this... ah, Felicity. Soraya wondered how old Felicity was.

"My name is Soraya," the older witch answered, her mind absorbing all of the information Felicity had just thrown at her. It was a lot to take in and Soraya got the feeling that this girl was the talkative type. She felt herself let out a small chuckle at the younger girl's antics. Slowly, she found herself nodding. "Yes, I do go to Hogwarts. I'm afraid I don't know your sister personally, but her name sounds a little familiar."

Ricky Jordan. Like she had just said, Soraya knew the name, but she didn't know the girl. Soraya eyed the young girl across from her. "Tell me, Felicity," she started off, reaching up to tuck a brunette curl behind her ear, "how old are you? What year will you be going into come autumn?" Every word Soraya spoke came out enunciated, perfectly formed in her mouth and spoken in her clear voice.

[Felicity Jordan]

Sissy nodded after Soraya introduced herself. It was a pretty name and it seemed just as slightly more sophisticated than other people as Soraya herself was. She beamed when the other girl smiled at her; Sissy knew a lot of people who got annoyed at her because they though she talked too much, but it was nice to know that some people had sense. "Oh, well that's all right, she missed a whole year so you might not have seen her around."she told Soraya.

She gave Soraya another thoughtful look. "You look old, though, are you going to be a Seventh Year?" Sissy asked. "I'll be a Fourth Year," she said, pride evident in her voice, before she leaned up in her chair. "I'm almost fourteen," she whispered, "I've got an August birthday." Sissy took a peek at the bags around Soraya, clearly brimming with curiosity, but restrained herself.

"Did you want to eat anything? My mum says I'm not allowed to use anything in the kitchen yet but I can go get us something if you're hungry?! Wait," Sissy considered the matter for a second, "Of course you're hungry you wouldn't have sat in here in the first place if you weren't," she muttered, rolling her eyes at her own silliness. "Anyway just let me know if you want something! It'll be like a payback for letting me sit here - did I already say thank you for that? Well, thank you anyway," Sissy finished, cheerful again.

[Soraya Selwyn]

"She missed an entire year of school?" Soraya asked curiously, her eyebrows shooting up just slightly to match the curiousness of her voice. She didn't think she would have to ask why Felicity's older sister had missed an entire year of school because the younger girl was quite talkative and Soraya guessed that she would gladly tell the story without anything prompting. Soraya couldn't imagine missing an entire year of school. It must have been something very serious that had kept Ricky Jordan out of school for a year.

Soraya bristled a little when Felicity referred to her as 'old'. She knew that the younger girl didn't mean it in a bad way, but she hated the word 'old'. That word referred to ladies with graying hair and sagging skin and bad teeth. Soraya almost shivered at the thought of becoming old one day. "I'll be a seventh year, yes," she responded with another small smile. She was looking forward to her last year of Hogwarts. She couldn't wait to graduate. "Fourth year is a good year. It's kind of your last opportunity to enjoy classes without the added stress of major exams at the end of the year." Soraya had enjoyed all of her years at Hogwarts.

She noticed the way Felicity looked at her bags, but was surprised that the girl didn't ask what was in them. "I've got a debutante ball this summer," Soraya explained, indicting the bags. "Just picking up some last-minute necessities. Congratulations on your birthday, by the way," she added

Soraya laughed lightly. "Yes, you did thank me, and you're welcome," she replied. Then she frowned slightly. She was starving, but didn't know what they had to eat here. So Soraya leaned forward like Felicity had done a few moments ago. "I'm going to tell you a secret: I've never been in here before. So, whilst I'm famished, I haven't a clue what your menu contains! Do you have any kind of salad?"

[Felicity Jordan]

"Yeah... she... well, she was sick," Sissy quirked her mouth to the side, and started fiddling with her shirt. It wasn't that she didn't like telling people about Ricky being sick, it was just that she didn't like thinking about it at all. She didn't even like thinking about the whole school year that Ricky'd been sick, because it felt like the whole time had been tainted with how scared they'd all been that Ricky wouldn't get better. "She was really sick," Sissy said again, eyes darting up and away from Soraya's face.

"Really?" Sissy said, bouncing away from her momentary sadness at the news that she's guessed right, "You looked too," she waved a hand, "Too grown up, I guess, to be a Sixth year. I thought maybe you were already done with school, honestly, but, oooh - this means we could see each other in September!" Sissy's smile dropped a little at the mention of exams. "Oh, really? 'Cause I'm not that good at exams..." she began a little uncomfortably, before shrugging as if not bothered, "Oh, well, I guess I don't need to worry about it just yet, right?" she said, and then listened closely when Soraya described what was in the bags.

"Oh, a debutante ball," Sissy said, trying out the unfamiliar phrase, "What's debuting, though? Like an album or something?" She gave an excited gasp, "Is it Fifth Horseman? I heard their album was coming out soon, I love them so much!" she squealed, before she beamed at Soraya. "Thanks!" she said, "I wanted a broom, but I got Cunning instead, so that's even better, I think."

"I did? That's good," Sissy said, "I forget sometimes." She wrinkled her nose at the mention of salads. "What do you want a salad for? Oh, did you have lunch somewhere else and want a snack or something? That's okay, I guess it's late for lunch anyway. I didn't eat cause I was looking for my lizard," she confided, before digging around on the table behind her and pulling up a menu. "Here! You can look and tell me what you want, and I'll go get it for you," she said, handing the menu over and bouncing on her hands.