The Social Butterfly

Before leaving Rome, Simone had never experienced many social connections. There were the occasional girls who talked to her at show jumping competitions and beginner races, but they rarely had time to bond. Once she had seen Paris, though, Simone knew she would have plenty of time to establish a friendship. Of course, she also believed that with her past social experiences, she would be about as friendly as a hippo. She had to test this theory, and to do that she had to find people.

The pub was well populated, so she would try and make a friend there first. She ordered a tea and a heavenly looking chocolate mousse before seating herself at a two person table that was filled with one person already. The place was filled to the door with people and there was no open seat unless she wanted to seat herself at an eight person table and look like even more of a loner, so she had a reason for seating herself at a table with a random person. Turning to face the person she gave a cautious smile and said, "Ciao."

As soon as she realized that she had spoke in Italian, she blushed and whispered, "I mean, hello."

Translation: Hello.

As much as Jack wanted to attend Beauxbatons Academy, she also wished to have just been homeschooled. However, Mother insisted that she go, despite all her arguments, and here Jack was school shopping on the common streets of France with her two brothers. Disgusting.

She insisted on holding Jamie's hand, to which he complied, though a tragedy befell her as Fane claimed they were taking a bathroom break now because he wasn't going to go back for either of them later. Jack scowled as she knew what that meant. Separation and she was correct.

She was in and out and waiting for her brothers to emerge with little patience and wondered whether this was some cruel trick to ditch her. She crossed her arms as she placed herself in a chair and waited. She was so intent on watching out for her brothers that she hardly notice someone had joined her until they spoke up.

"Merci!" She cried, jumping up in her chair. "Don't you know it isn't polite to join a table without asking? You are in my brother's chair!" She told the girl scoldingly and wagged her finger at her. The table was empty besides herself though Jack imagined that would be where her brother would sit once he returned. "You're not very good at French, are you?" She questioned, crinkling her nose. "You are at the disadvantage." She informed.

Her recent mess up left her flustered, and every time she opened her mouth, nothing would come out. Finally, Simone coughed and found her voice again. "I'm sorry for surprising you. May I seat here? I cannot find a proper place to sit down, and I'm awfully tired from walking around Paris."

She was truly sorry, but the part about her being tired was a lie. Of course, she had been walking around all day, but she felt she could walk the entire continent due to her excitement. "It is true, my French is flawed. I never had many lessons on it while I was home schooled. Italian is my primary language, so I do suppose I am at a disadvantage. No matter, though, I will get better eventually. Will you be attending Beaxubatons also?"

Jack huffed, blowing a lock of platinum blonde hair out of her face. "Very well, I suppose," She replied, indignantly. She wasn't interested in company at the moment. She just wanted to find her brothers and get out of there. "But you may have to move once my brothers return. They are both belligerent and may remove you forcefully if you do not comply," Jack told the girl, lying about her brothers. Neither would care in all honesty but Jack wanted the girl gone as soon as possible.

"Fascinating," Jack commented with a supercilious tone that insinuated she was not engaged at all with this conversation. She kept her eyes averted in search for her brothers, thinking that a platinum blonde and a near adult with a Mohawk would be easy to spot in a crowd. Somehow, that didn't seem to be the case. "Unfortunately, yes," She answered, still not looking the girl in the eyes. "I'd rather be homeschooled."

She could tell the girl in front of her wasn't paying attention to a word she was saying by the way she acted. "Thank you," she said. Her food had arrived at the table, but before the waiter left, she asked the girl in front of her, "Would you like anything. It's on me for letting me sit here."

"Your brothers have been gone for quite a while, perhaps they left you? Of course, I don't know your brothers, so I could be completely wrong," she added. She narrowed her eyes slightly at the girl in front of her. She had done nothing to offend her, yet she was being particularly rude to her. "Yes, well. Being home schooled is actually quite a pain. The focus is solely on you, and you have no time to do what you enjoy. Why do you not wish to attend a wizarding school?" It was a mystery, really. Attending Beauxbatons was the best thing of her life.

"Pardon me, but I do not know your name yet. May I ask what it is?"

Jack's stomach growled as the delectable smell of the girl's food reached her nose. She noticed then that she was a bit famished, but when the girl offered to purchase something for her, Jack declined. "No thank you," She said, crinkling her nose and refusing to offer any explanation. She had enough pocket money to be able to buy her own meal, but Jack wasn't interested in lingering around for too long.

She huffed and slunk deeper into her chair. She sure hoped the other girl wasn't correct and her brothers had walked out on her. How terribly rude that would be of them! More importantly, how lost she would feel if they did so. They were the only two she felt she could trust.

"I seemed to have managed up until now," Jack remarked, bitterly. She had been homeschooled all her life by her own private tutor. She liked the one on one and whenever she felt too pressured, she had Jamie with her to help ease her nerves. "I'm not used to so many people." Jack confessed. "Why are you so excited to attend?"

She ran her fingers through her platinum hair, combing it out and then started to fashion it into a pair of braids. "Jacqueline," She said plainly. Though friends called her Jack. However, this stranger was a stranger and to her, she might as well just be Jacqueline. "And you would be?"

Simone heard the other girl's stomach let out a rather large grumble, but figured that she was too humble to use another person's money for food. "Very well. Thank you, miss," she said, thanking the waiter who had delivered her food. By now, Simone was sure that if the other girl's brother were still in the building, they would have retrieved her by now. She didn't look as if she wanted that topic brought up again, though, so Simone left it as it was.

"You were home-schooled too then? I feel you were much more attentive to your lessons than I was. I found the one-on-one to be quite annoying at times. Beauxbatons will give me the opportunity to be myself again. In Rome I didn't have too much time for that. It was always one lesson after another, then homework, and by the time I am finished it is already dark out," she concluded. Simone had an alarming case of night-blindness that kept her from leaving the house once the sun began to set.

"My name is Simone. Simone Winifrey. Pleasure to meet you." She lifted her tea to her mouth and lightly blew on it before taking a sip. The bell on the door let out a light chime and her eyes flashed over to the source of the sound, figuring her parents were there already to come pick her up. They had both left her, saying they wanted to visit the Village and relive their memories. She scoffed lightly at the idea; they probably just wanted to rid themselves of their child and the crowd. Her parents often thought they were better than others, a trait that, thankfully, was not passed down to Simone.