Making Friends 101

Lucille was amazed by the vast, and slightly overpopulated, city that was Paris. France seemed infinitely cooler compared to her homeland of Spain, and she wished that she could have been born in a tourist city. It seemed fascinating, to be constantly surrounded by people, and no matter where you went it was an adventure. The orphanage was a speck of dust in her rearview mirror now, and she banked on never going back.

She decided to celebrate her relocation, she would have a butter beer. She remembered her parents giving her a taste of the liquid candy drink when she was little, and now she craved it stronger than ever. She followed the smell of food and the sounds of boisterous laughter and found herself staring at a old rustic pub. The place was crowded to say in the least, but it had food and that was all that mattered. Lucille violently pushed her way inside and was about to seat herself when another person bumped into her, spilling their butter beer across the front of her shirt. She scowled at the person and growled out, "Watch it, kid!"

Since Noah was the last kid at home, things were a bit quiet around the house. He had spent time with his brothers at their home and spent time with his best friend at her home. He was glad to be back for another year at Beauxbatons, he couldn't wait to see all the familiar faces.

He ordered a butter beer and looked around for a place to sit. Soon his drink was out of his hands and on the shirt of a younger girl. It hadn't been his fault, she ran into him. "You ran into me," he stated in a soft voice. "But I will apologize anyways since my drink did get on your shirt." Usually he was shy when he was first meeting people, but this incident had not been his fault at all. He cleared his throat before continuing. "Kid? I'm sure I'm older than you." He shrugged his shoulders, all he wanted was another butter beer.

Now that took a look at the person's face, she realized he was at least a few years older than her, but it was no matter. In the orphanage, she had taken down kids that were taller and older than her. She let out a slight scoff, barely loud enough for him to hear it. She knew she was being rude, but it was her nature. It was how you made a name for yourself. "Fine, whatever. Sorry for bumping into you." He seemed kind of withdrawn, like he was a naturally shy person trying to be brave. "Age doesn't matter. It's the personality that people remember. Whatever, though. Here, since I did run into you, the next butter beer is on me. The name's Lucille. My friends call my Lou. At least they would if I had friends. What's your name?"

Once an apology left the girl, Noah was feeling a bit better now. He had gotten what he wanted for standing up for himself and that was a great feeling. Maybe he should do it more often. "I accept your apology," he grinned slightly. "It was nice of you to say that you were sorry, some people don't have enough manners to say two little words." It wasn't that hard to say sorry, but some people thought it was the end of the world.

"I'm Noah," he said softly. "Friends call me Noah, I have friends." Though he did have his nicknames, he was mostly called Noah by everyone. "So, you don't have friends? How come?"